Mehr Chand Mahjan DAV College for Women, Chandigarh
Dr. Vandana Sharma and Dr. Sandeep Kaur Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science
Microbiology specialists with a keen interest in agriculture, Dr.Vandana Sharma and
Dr. Sandeep Kaur are also blessed to be employed at Mehr Chand Mahjan DAV College
for Women, Chandigarh. The college strongly believes in promoting and executing zero
waste management practices. The strategy adopted by this college sets an ideal
example to society to reduce and recycle waste. In addition, such a solid waste
management strategy opens window of opportunities for empowering women.
“Keeping these objectives in mind and under the able guidance of our worthy Madam
Principal, Dr. Nisha Bharghava, Dr. Vandana Sharma and Dr.Sandeep Kaur initiated the
mushroom cultivation project in the college in the year 2018.”
Under the zero waste management initiative, Dr.Vandana and Dr.Sandeep undertook
this research-based project related to optimization and cultivation of oyster mushrooms
from domestic and agricultural waste at the college microbiology lab.
“With a team of 10-15 students of B.Sc III (Microbial and Food Technology), we started
this project and it bagged the All India 3rd rank under the Best Citizen led Initiative
catgeory, Swachh Suvekshan Awards 2019, given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, Government of India.”
They cultivated this edible and nutritious variety of Oyster mushrooms from agriculture
and kitchen waste in used plastic bottles. With this approach, this project proposal offers
multiple solutions that includes waste management along with the generation
of relatively cheap source of high quality food protein. This represents an effective
solution for targeting the issues of multi nutritional problems and malnourishment that
occur in India.
Solid wastes that included agricultural waste (wheat and paddy straw), domestic kitchen
waste, fruit and vegetable peels, dry garden leaves and single-use plastic bottles were
put to use for cultivation of mushrooms. Also, the faculty is engaged in providing hands-
on training to women of nearby villages so that they are empowered with entrepreneur
skills for self sustainance. Besides this, the approach is also an ideal solution to stubble
burning and growing air pollution. These were the objectives behind this project.
How did you get this idea?
With ever increasing menance associated with ineffective waste management, their is an
imperative need to promote and adopt scientifically sound methods for effective solid
and liquid management.With this focus in our mind, we initiated the research based
project of mushroom cultivation in our lab involving the undergraduate final year
students.
This is a very effective and innovative method of utilizing organic wet waste and an
answer to increasing air pollution caused by burning of agricultural waste in North India.
Also, cultivation in single-use plastic containers is a novel idea. It will not just help in
reducing plastic waste but it also reduces the overall cost of production.
The spawn which is require for mushroom cultivation is also developed in our
laboratory itself.
Initially we started with kitchen waste and combinations of agro-waste. Then, we also
used dry garden leaves as a potential substrate and it worked. These leaves are mostly
burnt at many places that further contributes to air pollution. However, in our campus,
we have put them to produce highly nutrious mushroom variety.
What was the area that you utilized and what was the yield?
We got around 150 gram of mushroom per bottle. Right now we are working in our lab.
We are planning to start a pilot-scale study and begin a pilot-scale production. That is in
process.
Is this currently an experimental project?
Currently we are producing mushrooms. But at present, the production is not at a very
large scale. We haven't yet commercialized it. At present we train our students and also
women living in rural areas. The commercial production is under process. In a few
months we will begin with it.
Is it possible to grow mushrooms at a commercial scale in a 150x160 sq feet
room?
It is viable, of course. We need very limited space with shelves to keep bottles or bags
over it. The important thing is to keep the moisture level, humidity and temperature
under control. You can also get the spawn from authorized spawn dealers if there is no
intention of putting up a spawn lab. We have a spawn lab so we make our own spawns.
If you have a source of spawn then you can start with available space.
There should be a clear partition of rooms or two rooms - one for storing the raw
materials and the other for spawn run. Also, you need an autoclave for sterilization of all
raw materials. Contamination, during mushroom production, occurs very fast. That can
spoil the whole bag. If you cannot buy the autoclave you can boil the raw materials at a
high temperature to disinfect it. After boiling it, it should be dried in a very clean area.
You can also opt for chemical disinfection of the area used to dry the raw materials.
What are the humidity and temperature levels that are required?
Temperature should be maintained at about 26-28°C. There should be around 60-70%
humidity in the first phase called spawn run and later humidity is increased to 90% at
pinning and harvesting phase.
Which variety mushroom do you grow?
These are Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus species). It is called Dhingri in North India.
This variety of mushroom is very easy to grow and is highly nutrious.
You can use any waste for substrate. We have used waste paper, garden leaves,
agricultural waste, kitchen waste etc. You can use a combination of these substrates as
well. We cultivated the mushrooms in bottles. These single use plastic bottles cannot
withstand high temperatures. So, they are chemically disinfected so that nothing goes
wrong and there is no contamination. (Hypochloride solutions can be used for chemic
disinfection which is easily available)
Can you describe the steps to grow these mushrooms?
First is the preparation of substrates. We have a room dedicated to collect all the waste
materials. All the materials are manually cleaned, chopped and later soaked in water
overnight. Next day, all this soaked material is dried. We have three dedicated
autoclaves. So our next step is autoclaving of the waste substrates. Simultanously, we
disinfect the bottles by chemical disinfection to avoid any contamination. The next step
is called spawning i.e packing of substarte in bottles with spawn seeds added by
layering (spawn layering) after that we incubate the bottles. The incubated bottles are
kept at dark, humid conditions and spawn run starts. After 15-20 days, the bottle turns
white. At this point we put holes in the bottle, The next is the pinning stage. This is when
you need to increase the humidity to 100% and then decrease the temperature
slightly. The small pins start appearing. At this stage, we have to regularly spray clean
water and maintain high humidity (90-95%).Soon, the pins increase in size and
mushrooms start coming out.Within next 2-3 days, mushrooms are large enough for
final harvesting. They can be twisted and they are ready to be harvested. This is called
the first flush/crop.The same bottle can be continued and sprayed regularly for second
crop to appear.
It is all a matter of around 25-30 days before you are ready with your first crop.
After you cut the first crop, can you get the next crop from the same bottle?
Yes; they can be used for 2 more harvests. However, the yield will be less.
In an era when normally paddy straw is used as substrate and things can get
slightly difficult with mushroom cultivation, these scholars have come up with a
procedure that is absolutely simple, cost effective and environmental friendly.
Contact
Dr. Vandana Sharma
Assistant Professor
(9914084438)
vandanamcm5@gmail.com
MCM DAV College for Women
Chandigarh.
Dr. Vandana Sharma and Dr. Sandeep Kaur Assistant Professor, Department of Food Science
Microbiology specialists with a keen interest in agriculture, Dr.Vandana Sharma and
Dr. Sandeep Kaur are also blessed to be employed at Mehr Chand Mahjan DAV College
for Women, Chandigarh. The college strongly believes in promoting and executing zero
waste management practices. The strategy adopted by this college sets an ideal
example to society to reduce and recycle waste. In addition, such a solid waste
management strategy opens window of opportunities for empowering women.
“Keeping these objectives in mind and under the able guidance of our worthy Madam
Principal, Dr. Nisha Bharghava, Dr. Vandana Sharma and Dr.Sandeep Kaur initiated the
mushroom cultivation project in the college in the year 2018.”
Under the zero waste management initiative, Dr.Vandana and Dr.Sandeep undertook
this research-based project related to optimization and cultivation of oyster mushrooms
from domestic and agricultural waste at the college microbiology lab.
“With a team of 10-15 students of B.Sc III (Microbial and Food Technology), we started
this project and it bagged the All India 3rd rank under the Best Citizen led Initiative
catgeory, Swachh Suvekshan Awards 2019, given by the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs, Government of India.”
They cultivated this edible and nutritious variety of Oyster mushrooms from agriculture
and kitchen waste in used plastic bottles. With this approach, this project proposal offers
multiple solutions that includes waste management along with the generation
of relatively cheap source of high quality food protein. This represents an effective
solution for targeting the issues of multi nutritional problems and malnourishment that
occur in India.
Solid wastes that included agricultural waste (wheat and paddy straw), domestic kitchen
waste, fruit and vegetable peels, dry garden leaves and single-use plastic bottles were
put to use for cultivation of mushrooms. Also, the faculty is engaged in providing hands-
on training to women of nearby villages so that they are empowered with entrepreneur
skills for self sustainance. Besides this, the approach is also an ideal solution to stubble
burning and growing air pollution. These were the objectives behind this project.
How did you get this idea?
With ever increasing menance associated with ineffective waste management, their is an
imperative need to promote and adopt scientifically sound methods for effective solid
and liquid management.With this focus in our mind, we initiated the research based
project of mushroom cultivation in our lab involving the undergraduate final year
students.
This is a very effective and innovative method of utilizing organic wet waste and an
answer to increasing air pollution caused by burning of agricultural waste in North India.
Also, cultivation in single-use plastic containers is a novel idea. It will not just help in
reducing plastic waste but it also reduces the overall cost of production.
The spawn which is require for mushroom cultivation is also developed in our
laboratory itself.
Initially we started with kitchen waste and combinations of agro-waste. Then, we also
used dry garden leaves as a potential substrate and it worked. These leaves are mostly
burnt at many places that further contributes to air pollution. However, in our campus,
we have put them to produce highly nutrious mushroom variety.
What was the area that you utilized and what was the yield?
We got around 150 gram of mushroom per bottle. Right now we are working in our lab.
We are planning to start a pilot-scale study and begin a pilot-scale production. That is in
process.
Is this currently an experimental project?
Currently we are producing mushrooms. But at present, the production is not at a very
large scale. We haven't yet commercialized it. At present we train our students and also
women living in rural areas. The commercial production is under process. In a few
months we will begin with it.
Is it possible to grow mushrooms at a commercial scale in a 150x160 sq feet
room?
It is viable, of course. We need very limited space with shelves to keep bottles or bags
over it. The important thing is to keep the moisture level, humidity and temperature
under control. You can also get the spawn from authorized spawn dealers if there is no
intention of putting up a spawn lab. We have a spawn lab so we make our own spawns.
If you have a source of spawn then you can start with available space.
There should be a clear partition of rooms or two rooms - one for storing the raw
materials and the other for spawn run. Also, you need an autoclave for sterilization of all
raw materials. Contamination, during mushroom production, occurs very fast. That can
spoil the whole bag. If you cannot buy the autoclave you can boil the raw materials at a
high temperature to disinfect it. After boiling it, it should be dried in a very clean area.
You can also opt for chemical disinfection of the area used to dry the raw materials.
What are the humidity and temperature levels that are required?
Temperature should be maintained at about 26-28°C. There should be around 60-70%
humidity in the first phase called spawn run and later humidity is increased to 90% at
pinning and harvesting phase.
Which variety mushroom do you grow?
These are Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus species). It is called Dhingri in North India.
This variety of mushroom is very easy to grow and is highly nutrious.
You can use any waste for substrate. We have used waste paper, garden leaves,
agricultural waste, kitchen waste etc. You can use a combination of these substrates as
well. We cultivated the mushrooms in bottles. These single use plastic bottles cannot
withstand high temperatures. So, they are chemically disinfected so that nothing goes
wrong and there is no contamination. (Hypochloride solutions can be used for chemic
disinfection which is easily available)
Can you describe the steps to grow these mushrooms?
First is the preparation of substrates. We have a room dedicated to collect all the waste
materials. All the materials are manually cleaned, chopped and later soaked in water
overnight. Next day, all this soaked material is dried. We have three dedicated
autoclaves. So our next step is autoclaving of the waste substrates. Simultanously, we
disinfect the bottles by chemical disinfection to avoid any contamination. The next step
is called spawning i.e packing of substarte in bottles with spawn seeds added by
layering (spawn layering) after that we incubate the bottles. The incubated bottles are
kept at dark, humid conditions and spawn run starts. After 15-20 days, the bottle turns
white. At this point we put holes in the bottle, The next is the pinning stage. This is when
you need to increase the humidity to 100% and then decrease the temperature
slightly. The small pins start appearing. At this stage, we have to regularly spray clean
water and maintain high humidity (90-95%).Soon, the pins increase in size and
mushrooms start coming out.Within next 2-3 days, mushrooms are large enough for
final harvesting. They can be twisted and they are ready to be harvested. This is called
the first flush/crop.The same bottle can be continued and sprayed regularly for second
crop to appear.
It is all a matter of around 25-30 days before you are ready with your first crop.
After you cut the first crop, can you get the next crop from the same bottle?
Yes; they can be used for 2 more harvests. However, the yield will be less.
In an era when normally paddy straw is used as substrate and things can get
slightly difficult with mushroom cultivation, these scholars have come up with a
procedure that is absolutely simple, cost effective and environmental friendly.
Contact
Dr. Vandana Sharma
Assistant Professor
(9914084438)
vandanamcm5@gmail.com
MCM DAV College for Women
Chandigarh.