Introduction

Mushroom is a non-traditional horticultural crop having high quality of proteins, high fibre value, vitamins and minerals. World produces 61.16 lakh of cultivated mushroom annually. Paddy straw mushroom (Pleurotus florida) is an edible mushroom of the tropic and sub tropic region. Most of the edible fungi have strong enzyme system and are capable of utilizing complex organic compounds, which occur as agricultural wastes and industrial by product. these can be used as bedding material for mushroom cultivation. An attractive feature of this group of mushroom is that they can utilize a large variety of agricultural waste products and transform lignocellulostic biomass in food highly quality, flavor and nutritive value. In world mushroom production, plerotus rate second, after Agarics biporus .In 1986,plerotus sp. Production accounted for approximately 7% of the total world production of edible mushroom. By 1990, production of Pleurotus sp. reached one million metric tones and accounted for 24% of total mushroom production.

This Mushroom is widely grown for food in the orient owing its excellent flavor, taste and nutrients compared to any other edible mushroom. Pleurotus florida belongs to the family Basidomycetes. Basidomycetes play an important role in nature by recycling Carbohydrate through lignin degradation by the white – rot Basidomycetes is achieved through lignolytic enzymes such as laccase, lignin, peroxidase, and Magnesium peroxidase. The nutrional requirements and the limits of the physical environment for mycelia growth and fruiting have been investigated for many Pleurotus sp. Recent studies have indicated that cotton waste also a good substrate for the cultivation of Pleurotus sp.

Paddy straw and cotton is available abundantly in Pollachi region in Tamil nadu, India. In this study we used water hyacinth as a supplement to paddy straw to evaluate this aquatic plant on the of production Pleurotus florida mushroom.

Materials and Methods

Organism and Culture conditions

Paddy Straw Cultivation Method

Cotton Waste Cultivation Method

Result and Discussion

The results indicated that the spawn running was completed in the bags 10 to 14 days and pinheads appeared on the 19^th – 20^th. Pinheads turned into leaf like 23^rd day and the first harvest was made at about 26 – 28 days. The second harvest will be another 4 or 5 days.

In order to find out the effective bag, observations on the mushroom formed in the each side of the bags were recorded.

The results were good in irrespective period. The mean yield of trial was ½ kg/bag. The C:B ratio worked out of 1:2.3(table 1).

Figure 1

Table -1 cost benefit ratio

The growth of Pleurotus florida in Cotton waste mixed with wheat bran produced higher yield (74.35g) than Paddy straw (51.38g). The incubation period to the emergence of sporophores was longer for cotton waste mixed with wheat bran (seven weeks) compared to that for the Paddy straw (Four weeks). The main substrate material alone sometimes cannot provide enough nitrogen required for optimal growth of mushrooms. Additives such as rice or wheat bran provide a nitrogen source (Choi, 2004). Amounts of supplements that should be added varies with the substrate chosen. Oei (2003) suggested a range of 5-10% wheat bran. Choi (2004) also reported that if cotton waste is chosen as the main substrate material for Oyster mushroom cultivation, a nitrogen source such as rice bran should be supplemented. Nitrogen is converted to ammonia nitrogen and Beyer and Wilkinson (2002) found a direct correlation between substrate ammonia content and subsequent growth of mushrooms.

Figure 2

Cotton waste is the material that is discarded during the processing of harvested cotton seed to produce oil and other materials in the industry. Cotton waste is readily available in Pollachi, especially in the north where the majority of cotton is grown. Wheat bran is the outer part of the wheat grain removed during processing. Addition of this very inexpensive supplement increases the dietary fibre of the produced mushroom. Utilization of agro-industrial wastes makes mushroom cultivation a good fit in sustainable farming (Oei, 2005).

Mushroom cultivation, apart from being a source of food production, can be a means of livelihood and a source of economic empowerment for women in both urban and rural areas, and for small holder farmers.

The present results indicate that paddy straw mushroom can be cultivated in laboratory condition. This will enable the farmer to get extra income and more protein harvest from his agricultural waste. This system will minimize the cost of production compared with other mushroom cultivation method.