Oyster Mushrooms: Step by step guide by Sharon Waswa.
How to do Mushroom farming in Kenya: step by step guide
Sharon is an agribusiness
professional, and a farmer. She is the co-founder of Tamu Oyster Mushrooms located
in Eldoret. She takes us through, step by step, how to grow oyster
mushrooms.
Mushroom farming is one the most profitable agricultural
ventures regardless of scale. Small holder mushroom farmers can get up to three
times the return on their investment if they ensure production costs remain low
and they get their pricing correct.
Tamu Oyster mushrooms focuses on growing and distributing
oyster mushrooms in either fresh, dry or powder form in Kenya. Currently their
products are available in Nairobi, Machakos, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia
counties.
The farm begun their first production in 2015 and five
years later, they have grown from supplying one retail store to over 10 shops. Sharon, one
of the proprietors of the business takes us through a brief step by step on how to begin growing oyster mushrooms. (Youtube video)
Step 1: Substrate preparation
Substrate used to grow oyster mushrooms vary. A lot of
agricultural waste can be used to grow this fungi. In this case, bagasse (a byproduct
of sugar production), wheat straw and saw dust are used as substrate. Other
additives to the substrate include wheat bran, molasses, water, lime and sodium
hypochlorite which is used to sterilize the substrate. The substrate is mixed
and packed into bags which are steamed and left to cool.
Step 2: Spawning/Planting
Mushroom "seeds" are referred to as spawn.
Getting good quality spawn consistently continues to be a challenge for small
scale mushroom farmers. This process involves opening the bags, introducing
spawn, light mixing and closing the bags. the bags are then put in a dark room
for approximately 30 days.
Step 3: Fruiting
Once the bag is completely colonized, the bags are transferred to a fruiting room. where misting occurs daily and mushrooms are harvested.
 |
| Oyster mushroom in fruiting room |
 |
| Packaged and ready for sale |
For more information on training, investment, contact Sharon
on Twitter @nita_sharon
Watch the full guide on Youtube
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