MUSHROOM PRODUCTION PLANT

   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 animals 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”.

INTRODUCTION
USES AND APPLICATIONS
PROPERTIES
CHARACTERISTICS AND CONDITIONS OF MANURE FOR MUSHROOM
B.I.S. SPECIFICATIONS
MARKET SURVEY
PRESENT MANUFACTURERS/SUPPLIERS/EXPORTERS
EXPORT MARKET FOR MUSHROOMS
EXPORTERS, BUYERS OF BUTTON MUSHROOMS
NATURAL COMPOST
METHOD OF MUSHROOMS GROWING
METHOD OF MUSHROOM SPAWN PRODUCTION
PREPARATION OF COMMERCIAL SPAWN
FORMULATIONS
DISEASES AND PESTS OF MUSHROOM
PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM OF GROWING & PROCESSING
OF MUSHROOMS
FLOW DIAGRAM OF PROCESSING OF MUSHROOM
SUPPLIERS OF RAW MATERIALS
SUPPLIERS OF PLANT AND MACHINERY

APPENDIX –A

01.    PLANT ECONOMICS
02.    LAND & BUILDING
03.    PLANT AND MACHINERY
04.    OTHER FIXED ASSESTS
05.    FIXED CAPITAL
06.    RAW MATERIAL
07.    SALARY AND WAGES
08.    UTILITIES AND OVERHEADS
09.    TOTAL WORKING CAPITAL
10.    TOTAL CAPITAL INVESTMENT
11.    COST OF PRODUCTION
12.    TURN OVER/ANNUM
13.    BREAK EVEN POINT
14.    RESOURCES FOR FINANCE
15.    INSTALMENT  PAYABLE IN 5 YEARS
16.    DEPRECIATION CHART FOR 5 YEARS
17.    PROFIT ANALYSIS FOR 5 YEARS
18.    PROJECTED BALANCE SHEET FOR (5 YEARS)