Cultivation Method Practiced in Nepal--------------------------------- The cultivation method for oyster mushroom production using paddy straw in Nepal is as follows. Paddy straw isselected from the field by choosing fresh, not old, clean and straight pieces, of good quality. These straws are manually chopped into small pieces (2-3 inches long) using the locally hand-made chopper. Chopped straw is then soaked in water for 2-4 hours, or sometimes overnight, in a container or a small ditch specially made for this purpose. The soaked straw is cleansed in water 1-2 times in a plastic bucket or some other container. The water from the straw is drained off in sieve. Most farmers drain the water off slowly by placing the leaned straw on a sloped place, a procedure that takes 2-4 hours. The drained straw is then steamed in a steamer. The local steamers are clay pots with a number of holes on the bottom. These steamers are put on top of a metallic vessel containing water. The water is oiled using a kerosene stove. The mouth of the straw steamer is covered with thick plastic sheet and tied up by a string so as to make it tight. It takes about half an hour for the steam to reach the top of the steamer. Once the steam reaches to the top, steaming should be continued for about half an hour or more in order to sterilize the straw. The temperature in this process usually goes beyond 90℃. Instead of the clay pot steamer, a metallic drum can be used. In such cases the metallic drum is filled with water to about 6 inches from the bottom and a tripod stand is used to support the grate. The drum is then filled with straw and covered with a plastic sheet. The steaming method is then the same as with the clay pot steamer. The steamed straw is cooled down in the same container or transferred into a plastic sack to prevent contamination from outside. The plastic bags used for making packets are of different sizes: 12×16î (small) and 18×26î (large). These bags are punched to make holes at a distance of 4 inches apart. Cooled straw is packed in the bags in layers up to 4 inches deep and grain spawn is sprinkled in layer by layer. Once the bag is filled, the bag mouth is closed with a rubber band. Incubation proceeds at room temperature for 20-21 days, until the mycelium spreads completely throughout inside the packets.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 09:04:06 +0000
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