Growth and yield performance of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) on different substrates

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus oestratus) has outstanding flavor and taste with fan shaped pileus which is rich source of both macro and micro nutrients.It is of paramount importance to choose appropriate substrates in a given place to grow oyster mushroom successfully.The experiment was conducted at Bangaun, Lamahi, Dang, Nepal during 2018-19 to study the growth performance of oyster mushroom on locally available substrates as well as to find out the best substrate.The substrates used in the experiment were lentil straw, rice straw, wheat straw, maize stover, maize cob, along with the mix ratio of corn cob 1:3 with these substrates under factorial completely randomized design (CRD) design with four replications during winter season with an average daily temperature of 12-21°C and RH ranging from 80 to 90%.Among the tested substrate composition, significantly the lowest days (17.5 days) to complete spawn running was recorded on maize cob followed by lentil straw (22.5 days) while highest days (30.75 days) was required to complete spawn running on rice straw.The lowest time (25.50 days) for first fruiting initiation, the lowest time (33 days) for harvesting and the highest yield (2.47 kg) was revealed by lentil straw.The highest pileus diameter (6.81 cm) was recorded on wheat straw followed by rice and maize cob mix at 3:1 ratio (6.58 cm).Lentil straw was found the best substrate and rice straw mix with maize cob was more efficient as compared to rice straw only for the production of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom.