Delicious mushrooms

Mushrooms are known for their nutritional value and medicinal value. Mushroom cultivation provides gardeners with a steady source of income. According to reliable sources mushroom consumption dates back to several hundred years BC in China. The Chinese value mushrooms for medicinal properties as well as for food. Ancient Romans and Greeks, particularly the upper classes, used mushrooms for culinary purposes. Food tasters were employed by Roman emperors to ensure that mushrooms were safe to eat, because there are poisonous mushrooms. Garden Talk speaks to District Agriculture Instructor, the Office of the deputy provincial Agriculture Director (Extension) Colombo, Thanuja Jeewandara on this highly delectable food item.

Mushroom varieties that can be found and eaten in Sri Lanka are

* American Oyster ( these varieties have been researched and developed)

* Abalony (these varieties have been researched and developed)

* Urupaha ( can be found in Sri Lankan villages)

* Leena hatu

* Idalolu

* Heenvali Hathu

Jeewandara described at great length the procedure of growing mushrooms -

"The growing of mushrooms is a long procedure. There are a certain amounts of inputs that are necessary. You need ingredients such as saw dust, rice brand, soya or green gram flour, dolomite, magnesium sulfate and water to facilitate its growth. You need a PVC Pipe, rubber band and cotton wool and polypropylene bags and a barrel with a lid to act as the vessel.

Thanuja Jeewandara

The saw dust must be prepared by removing the debris, woody parts and maybe insects that may be present. It is then mixed with Dolomite and other ingredients. Magnesium sulfate is dissolved in water and then mixed into the saw dust. This medium is then exposed to the water. However if there is too much water, the fungus will not grow.

Then you fill the Polypropylene bag with the prepared medium. We then send the opening of the bag through the PVC Pipe (like inserting a ring onto a finger) and then insert a cotton bud into the opening. To prevent the cotton from getting wet we tie the opening with a rubber band. We then use a grease barrel with a lid. We then fill the barrel with the right amount of water and then lower a wooden/ steel frame into the barrel. This is the frame that the Polypropylene bags will lie on top. The lid will then be placed over the barrel but the lid will have a small opening. Then we heat the water and the bags will be sterilized. The lid needs to be airtight and the steam will rise up through the opening. This opening is there because the heat generates temperature and pressure both. Without the opening the barrel may explode. To prevent that we make a hole in the lid.

After 20 minutes it heats up and the steam rises. We allow this to happen for two or three hours- a continuous rising of steam. We let it cool then for three hours. The result are completely sterilized bags with the medium - with no insects or fungus or anything.

Then we take the sterilized bags and introduce the mushroom seeds into it. These seeds come in packets that we can buy. We can buy one packet for Rs. 120. One packet contains 200g.

Let's say you want to grow Abalony or American Oyster mushrooms - there are seeds for that. So you introduce them into the bags. We introduce around 25 - 30 seeds into the bags, and then the bag is sealed again.

Then the bags are introduced into the incubation room. The room temperature and the relative humidity is very important. If the temperature is too high there will be no growth. The temperature has to be Celsius 28 - 30. The Humidity has to be around 85 - 90. Also the room has to be dark - 75 percent.

When it comes to Abalony the bags need to become completely white in color. When it comes to Abalony it takes 40 to 45 days. American Oyster takes 25 - 30 days.

After that it is introduced into the cropping room. There the conditions are different. The temperature and humidity is the same as the incubation room. But it needs sunlight - 75 percent. Here it needs moisture and ventilation. So what we do is we spray water. But before doing this we need to cut the opening that is encircled by the PVC Pipe. Once that is done the Polypropylene bags are opened.

After three or four days we can see the new mushrooms emerging. One bag can be kept for two and a half months. From one bag you can reap the harvest six or seven times. One bag yields 300g - 400g in two and half months."

Small scale farmers

"Growing of mushrooms is done by small scale farmers. It does not take up much space. And the cost of cultivation is low. It is a good protein source. Also it is good for vegetarians. You can use as value added product. You can make a variety of dishes with this," stated Jeewandara

However we must guard against poisonous mushrooms. Here we must be mindful of mushrooms with dark colors. They should be avoided. Mushrooms with a ring and vulva must be avoided. Also we must avoid mushrooms if we see that birds and animals avoid it. "We can confidently eat any mushroom available in the market. Mushrooms have medicinal value because they are a source of protein and prevent some diseases," pointed out Jeewandara.