Utilization of paddy straw for oyster mushroom production

Abstract

Waste paddy straw can be used as a quality substrate to cultivate mushroom. The organic nutrient content of the paddy straw will help the growth of the mushroom. The purpose of this research is to utilize waste paddy straw to grow oyster mushroom incorporated with effective microorganism (EM) and Agricultural lime. Ten samples of paddy straw mixed with different composition of lime and EM was prepared. The best composition were choose by observing the highest biological efficiency and less growing days of oyster mushroom. Paddy straw mixed with 4 ml EM showed the best results for higher biological efficiency which is 4.7%. The Figure 4.7 shows the healthy growing mushrooms for 4 ml EM sample. While for the shortest growing days was show by sample consisting 2 ml of EM plus 15 g lime which is 31 days. Biological efficiency increased with the increase of the EM volume while the growing days of oyster mushroom decreases when the amount of EM increases. Furthermore, the lime sample also showed quite higher biological efficiency which is 4%. The Figure 4.6 shows the mushroom grows only I 30 g lime sample. Effective microorganisms give the most significant effect on the biological efficiency and growing days of oyster mushroom by increasing the biological efficiency while reducing the growing days. From the DOE optimisation table the amount of optimum EM which were 4ml and 10.44 g lime is selected for both biological efficiency and mushroom growing days. This is the first study that reported the success of growing oyster mushroom using only the straw and the straw mixed with lime and EM.