Rural and Urban Agricultural Systems and Technologies-RUAST

Intoduction Shiitake mushrooms (pronounced shee ta’ kay) are a traditional delicacy in Japan, Korea, and China. For at least a thousand years, Shiitake mushrooms have been grown on logs, outdoors, in the temperate mountainous regions of Asia. To this day, Shiitakes figure as the most popular of all the gourmet mushrooms. Only in the past several decades have techniques evolved for its rapid cycle cultivation indoors, on supplemented, heat-treated, sawdust-based substrates. Fig. 01: The Shiitake Mushroom Cultivation of this mushroom is a centerpiece of Asian culture, having employed thousands of people for centuries. We may never know who first cultivated Shiitake. The first written record of Shiitake cultivation can be traced to Wu Sang Kwuang who was born in China during the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 960–1127). He observed that, by cutting logs from trees that harbored this mushroom, more mushrooms grew when the logs were “soaked and striked.” In 1904, the Japanese researcher Dr....

Introduction The edible, fleshy and macroscopic basidiocarpous or ascocarpous spore bearing fungus of certain species are designated as a term ‘Mushroom’. There is a difference between the term mushroom and toad stools that ‘Toad Stool’ signifies poisonous and/or inedible species of fungi. Mushroom is a fleshy and spore bearing nutritive organ(fruiting body) of certain fungi that belongs to a group of organisms which differ in many respects from flowering plants and animals. Cultivated edible mushrooms may be defined as “ Muhsrooms are achlorophyllous, macroscopic basidiomycetous or ascomycetous species of certain fungi that bear spores embedded into fleshy fruiting bodies and are desirable as food in the market place. These can be cultivated either in properly designed mushroom houses under precisely controlled conditions or in outdoor areas under conditions manipulated by man to enhance their production in quantity with desirable quality”. Mushroom is a saprophytic plant wh...

The King Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus eryngii (De Candolle ex Fries) Quelet sensu lato Introduction:  Fig. 01: The King Oyster Mushroom Pleurotus eryngii is by far the best-tasting Oyster mushroom, well deserving of the title, the King Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus pulmonarius on this same material, at the same rate of spawning, unless supplements are added or a unique spawning method is employed. Oyster. Popular in Europe, this stout, thickly flesh mushroom, is one of the largest species in the genus. Preferring hardwoods, this mushroom is easy to grow. Although this mushroom grows on the cereal (wheat) straws, the yields are not as substantial as that of Common Names: The King Oyster  Boletus of the Steppes Description: Cap 3–12 cm in diameter, at first convex, expanding with age, becoming funnel-shaped, with the margin typically inrolled, extending with age. Stem 3–10 cm in length, central, thick, tapering downwards. Gills fairly distant, thin,...