MUSHROOM CULTIVATION AND PROCESSING WITH AIR CONDITIONING

                The use of the mushroom, that is the wild type found growing in  pastures  and  upon  lands where there  is an abundance of decaying  organic matter is very old.  It was used by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans in their artiquity  and  probably much  earlier.  It has been observed that uncivilized  tribes  at present  eat  the same class of fungi so there is  no  reason  to doubt but that the same thing occurred with our early  ancestors. The  Greeks and Romans and those who followed had to depend  upon such  specimens  as they could find as they recognized  it  as  a plant  without  seed but knew of no means  for  its  propagation.  They  observed  that it was most abundant in pastures  and  along trade  routes where amimals were tethered or fed and believed  it to  be due to decomposition of animal or vegetable matter in  the soil  but that was the extent of their knowledge.  “Horace”,  the poet,  eulogized the fine qualities of the mushrooms just  before the christian era.  “Gibault” could find no record of the culture of  the  plant  prior to the 17th century and  cites  “Oliver  de Serres”  1600   as  the first to refer to  such  a  culture.   It appears that the Persian market gardeners observed that mushrooms were  most numerous in the fall in their melon patches where  the land  had been manured very heavily and decomposition  not  fully completed.   Since  the growths were spontaneous  they  made  the deduction that by making deep beds or trenches filled with manure and  covered with layer of soil they could be produced,  but  the reself  of their efforts was that sometimes a crop of  fungi  was obtained but more often not.  These beds were in the open.  They had  discovered only one factor, a definite relationship  between decomposing  organic matter and the appearance of the plant but not the other condition necessary to ensure a crop. They had at least  progressed beyond the Englishman Johsi Evelyn, who declared “What they were substances put in the world by  thunders of  autumn”.

   Project Report Covers:

•     Introduction
•     Uses and Applications
•     Properties
•     Market Survey with future aspects
•     Present Manufacturers
•     B.I.S. Specifications
•     Manufacturing Process with Formulae
•    Cost Economics with Profitability Analysis
•     Capacity
•     Land & Building Requirements with Rates
•     List & Details of Plant and Machinery with their Costs
•     Raw Materials
•     Details/List and Costs
•     Power & Water Requirements
•     Labour/Staff Requirements
•     Utilities and Overheads
•     Total Capital Investment
•     Turnover
•     Cost of Production
•     Break Even Point
•     Profitability
•     Land Man Ratio
•     Suppliers of Plant & Machineries and Raw Materials.