Techniques for Increasing the Biological Efficiency of Paddy Straw Mushroom (Volvariella Volvacea) in Eastern India

Mushrooms are popular for their delicacy and flavored food value. Among the various mushrooms cultivated in India, paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella spp.) holds a good promise and its cultivation have been introduced as a cottage industry. It has several advantages like requirement of the tropical or sub-tropical climate, fast growth rate, easy cultivation technology and good acceptability at consumers' level. Various methods were employed to enhance the Biological Efficiency of Volvariella volvacea. Cage method of cultivation proved its superiority among all the methods tested and gave highest Biological Efficiency (12.10 %) followed by bed method and spiral method of cultivation. Mixing of banana pseudo stem and paddy straw in the ratio of 1:1 increased the yield ( 14.90% B.E) which was 34.23 % higher than paddy straw. Hand threshed straw of local indigenous variety showed maximum yield and Biological Efficiency (14.15%) in comparison to cattle and tractor threshed high yielding rice variety. A range of 10.36 % to 30.57 % increase in Biological Efficiency was obtained with different supplements. Maximum yield (16.45 % B.E.) was recorded from 2 % red gram supplemented substrate followed by 2% rice bran (14.15 % B.E). The above findings will provide valuable information to the cultivators and help them for generating extra income through paddy straw mushroom cultivation.