Yield, Fruit Body Diameter and Cropping Duration of Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus sajor caju) Grown on Different Grasses and Paddy Straw as Substrates

The present experiment aimed at finding the suitability of some grasses as cost effective alternative substrates, for cultivation of one species of oyster mushroom viz., Pleurotus sajor caju (Fr.) Singer in eastern India. Relative efficacy three grasses viz., kash grass (Saccharum spontaneum L.), sabai grass (Eulaliopsis binata C.E. Hubb (Retz.)) and lemon grass (Cymbopogon citrates Stapf.) was tested by using each of them either as whole substrate or in combination with the conventional substrate i.e., paddy straw in 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 ratios. Results revealed that the maximum yield of mushroom was recorded under paddy straw with biological efficiency of 85.9%. However, no significant difference in yield was found when 25% or 50% of the conventional substrate (paddy straw) was replaced by lemon grass and sabai grass. The results indicated that grasses which are available in plenty in the forests and wastelands of lateritic uplands of eastern India can be utilized successfully as promising substrate for the commercial cultivation of Pleurotus sajor caju.