VERMI SUBSTRATE WITH RICE HULL ASH

IN

OYSTER MUSHROOM PRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Due to the growing population and depletion of the agricultural land, there will be

a scarcity of food. The solution of this world wide problem are cultivating food resources.

The croplands provide the bulk amount of food for human. Yet though there are 1000s of

edible plants in the Earth, solely 4 essential crops (potatoes, rice, wheat and corn)

account for many of the caloric consumption of human beings. Few animals are raised

for milk, meat and eggs (for example. poultry, cattle and pigs) are as well the croplands

are fed grain, but it is depleting dew to the increasing of population, depletion of

agriculture land and global pollution.

There are many food resources to be cultivated. The researcher chose mushroom

production because of mushroom “Pleurotus” nutritional content. Mushroom” Pleurotus”

was belonging to the kingdom of fungi and mushroom are use as food and medicinal

purposes. Fungi are stationary organisms; however, mycelium grow outwards to look for

water and nutrients such as nitrogen, carbon, potassium and phosphorus, which

the mycelium transports to the fruiting body so it can continue to produce biomass and

grow. Mushroom are also unique within the fungal kingdom itself, because they produce

the complex fruiting body and they do not need light to grow. A mushroom is the fruit of

the fungal organism that produce them like the tree that produce fruit. Mushroom are high

in protein, fiber, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, calcium, folic acid, vitamin
B1, B2, B3, B12, C, D, and also anti-cancer, anti-oxidant. Cultivation temperature of 25–

27°C, and relative air humidity of 70%. But the main problem here are consumer or buyer,

they don’t know the potential nutrient they can get in mushroom, they said that it’s too

expensive, and they doubt to buy some species of mushroom because they thought it

was poisonous.

The researcher chose oyster mushroom, because of its popularity edible in the

market and it is the easiest species to cultivate. Oyster mushroom is a saprotroph,

meaning it feeds on dead and decaying matter. The latin name Pleurotus

ostreatus means "sideways oyster", referring to the oyster-like shape of the mushroom.

Oyster mushroom are the easiest among the edible mushroom to grow. Oyster mushroom

are high in protein, fiber, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, selenium, calcium, folic acid,

vitamin B1, B3, B5, B12, C, D and also anti-cancer, anti-oxidant. The common substrate

for Oyster mushroom is the rice straw.

To have a high yield in mushroom production there must be a good medium and

a good spawn. Vermicompost are fit for mushroom production as a medium.

Vermicompost nutrient are organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus potassium, Calcium,

Magnesium, Sulfur, Copper, Iron, and Zinc that needs of mushroom in growing. It restores

microbial population which includes nitrogen fixers, phosphate solubilizers, provides

major and micro nutrient, improves soil texture and water holding capacity of the soil,

improves structural stability of the soil, provides good aeration to soil, improve root

growth, and proliferation of beneficial soil microorganism and can lead to better quality
and quantity of crops. Vermicomposting produces a product that is naturally designed to

benefit crops in several different ways. The most significant benefits are that the nutrient

in earthworm compost are very easily absorb by the roots of the crops. Unlike chemical

fertilizer, vermicompost is not easily flushed from the soil because of the worm mucus it

contains. Crops have longer to obtain the nutrient and get the maximum benefit. Nitrogen

fixing bacteria are both present in the vermi worms and legumes. In vermi worms it was

present in their belly and in legumes in nodes root. These nitrogen-fixing bacteria supply

the plant with part of its nitrogen needs, generally not more than 50% to 75% of it”.

Although 80% of the atmosphere is nitrogen, and nitrogen is essential for plants and

animals, the nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere must first be converted to ammonia, nitrates,

and nitrogen dioxide to be used. This is as true for humans as it is for coffee plants.

Bacteria perform this essential task. While there are bacteria present in the atmosphere

and soil that perform this conversion, their production is not sufficient for raising crops.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Despite all the favorable benefits at high profits in growing mushroom, mushroom

farming is not spreading fast. There are certain inherent problems or bottlenecks which

hamper fast spread of mushroom farming. The problems being confronted by the farmers

in Mushroom cultivation are:

1. Low of demand in the market due to the high price

2. Lack of knowledge in mushroom life cycle

3. Lack of availability of good quality of spawn

 4. Low quality of the fruiting bag

5. The mediums are being contaminated.

6. Lack of availability of raw material

7. Uneven maintenance of moisture and sterilization leads to growing medium with

other fungi

8. Lack of humidity in the surrounding

9. Wrong environment

10. Unbalance PH level

11. Mycelium Fails to Form or Grow

12. Lack of marketing facilities

13. Lack of usable Nitrogen in the medium

SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM

Most of the problem in mushroom cultivation are liability of the grower, they have

lack of proper knowledge in mushroom production and failed to follow the proper steps in

growing. In growing mushroom there must be a cleanliness to avoid contamination.

Providing right amount of nutrient and other needs of mushroom. In low demand in the

market, turning mushroom to different product is the best solution for it.

In my study I propose a substrate for fruiting bag that solve a problem in mushroom

culture. It is the vermicompost rice straw with peanut nodules and animal manure

combined with rice hull ash. Rice straw is the primary medium for Oyster mushroom

because all the needs of mushroom is on it, but it can be improving by vermicomposting.
Vermicomposting breakdown the organic matter and reduced levels of contaminants and

a higher saturation of nutrients that enrich the soil. This medium is rich in usable nitrogen

like nitrate and ammonia comes from the manure, peanuts and worm cast. According to

“DR. PAUL TUDZYNSKI A.D. on Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology” nitrogen

is an essential requirement for growth, and the ability to metabolize a wide variety of

nitrogen sources enables fungi to colonize different environmental niches and survive

nutrient limitations. That explain why the are many mushroom pop up when there is

lightning that breakdown the nitrogen to the air and form it in a usable nitrogen. Rice hull

ash serves as a corrective of soil acidity and there’s no need to use lime, it avoids

contamination of other fungus to the fruiting bag and serve as an anchorage of nitrogen

so that mushroom has longer to obtain the usable nitrogen and get the maximum benefit.

When the peanut die it releases the nitrogen that it absorbed and that’s the time that my

compost benefit from it. Earthworm casts are sources of nutrients for plants. Lumbricids

in a pasture soil produced casts that contained 73 percent of the nitrogen found in the

ingested litter; indicating both the importance of earthworms in incorporating litter nitrogen

into the soil and the inefficiency of nitrogen digestion by earthworms (Syers et al., 1979).

Earthworms increase the amount of nitrogen mineralized from organic matter in soil.

Because nitrification is enhanced in earthworm casts, the ratio of Nitrate-N to Ammonium-

N tends to increase when earthworms are present (Ruz Jerez et al., 1988). Nitrogen-

fixing bacteria are found in the gut of earthworms and in earthworm casts, and higher

nitrogenase activity, meaning greater rates of N-fixation, are found in casts when

compared with soil (Simek and Pizl, 1989).

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The general objective of this study was to determine whether this study is more effective

and have a higher yield that the common substrate in mushroom cultivation. And the

specific objective of this study are the following:

1. To reduce the contamination of the fruiting bag

2. To have a high yield and profits

3. To reduce cost of the fruiting bag

4. To create a sufficient usable nitrogen for the fruiting bag

Significance of the Study

This study would greatly help the following.

Farmers- this project would serve as their guide in growing a large production of

mushroom in this region.

School/Institution- this would benchmark as their reference, especially the future

researchers.

Future researchers- this would serve as their related article in doing their research.

Specific individuals- Individuals that wanted to make a small production of this,

would help them to have an extra income and a source of food.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study aims to test whether the substrate can produce a high yield in

mushroom production rather than the common used substrate.

Definition of Terms

1. Substrate- simply any substance on which mycelium will grow

2. Fruiting bag- simply called mushroom growing bag

3. Mycelium- is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony,

consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. This is the roots of

mushroom

4. Vermi worms –This is species of worms used in vermicomposting

5. Vermicompost- is the product of the composting process using various

species of worms

6. Fungi- any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes

microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more

familiar mushrooms.

7. Spawn- simply any substance that has been inoculated with mycelium, the

vegetative growth of a fungus

8. Mushroom- a fungal growth that typically takes the form of a domed cap

on a stalk, often with gills on the underside of the cap. It is the fruit of

mushroom.

9. Nitrogen Fixation- process by which nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere is

converted into usable nitrogen.

10. Nitrogen fixing bacteria- microorganisms present in the soil or in plant

roots that change nitrogengases from the atmosphere into

 solid nitrogencompounds that plants can use in the soil or simply called

Rhizobial.

11. Sterilization- refers to any process that eliminates, removes, kills, or

deactivates all forms of life and other biological agents.

12. Common Fruiting bag- This is a rice straw substrate with lime.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are found in the gut of earthworms and in earthworm casts,

and higher nitrogenase activity, meaning greater rates of N-fixation, are found in casts

when compared with soil (Simek and Pizl, 1989).

Lumbricids in a pasture soil produced casts that contained 73 percent of the

nitrogen found in the ingested litter; indicating both the importance of earthworms in

incorporating litter nitrogen into the soil and the inefficiency of nitrogen digestion by

earthworms (Syers et al., 1979)

According to (DR. PAUL TUDZYNSKI A.D. on Institute of Plant Biology and

Biotechnology) nitrogen is an essential requirement for growth, and the ability to

metabolize a wide variety of nitrogen sources enables fungi to colonize different

environmental niches and survive nutrient limitations

 Carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio, oxygen, and moisture content are the important

conditions to optimize biological activity (Roupas et al., 2007).

This Vermicompost improve physical conditions of the soil, such as the density and

water-retention capacity, as well as chemical properties, such as pH and the levels of

organic carbons, N, P, and K (Singh et al., 2013).

Biological nitrogen fixation is the process that changes inert N2 into biologically useful

NH3. This process is mediated in nature only by N-fixing rhizobia bacteria (Rhizobiaceae,

α-Proteobacteria) (Sørensen and Sessitsch, 2007).

Other plants benefit from N-fixing bacteria when the bacteria die and release

nitrogen to the environment, or when the bacteria live in close association with the plant.

In legumes and a few other plants, the bacteria live in small growths on the roots called

nodules. Within these nodules, nitrogen fixation is done by the bacteria, and the NH3 they

produce is absorbed by the plant. Nitrogen fixation by legumes is a partnership between

a bacterium and a plant ( Robert Flynn and John Idowu

College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State

University).

Almost all of the fixed nitrogen goes directly into the plant. However, some nitrogen

can be “leaked” or “transferred” into the soil (30–50 lb N/acre) for neighboring non-legume

plants (Walley et al., 1996). Most of the nitrogen eventually returns to the soil for

neighboring plants when vegetation (roots, leaves, fruits) of the legume dies and

decomposes.
 CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Materials

3.1.1 Vermicompost bin

The dimension of the bin is 4m length by 1 m width by haft meter height. It must keep

from predator like rats and birds to secure the vermi worm and it must keep at shady

part preserve the moisture of the compost.

3.1.2 Substrate

Compost of Rice straw, manure, peanut, rice hull ash.

3.1.3 Fruiting bag

Placed the vermi cast inside the polyethylene plastic bag with the thickness of 0.03 and

size of 6 by 12 and it must be compact. It must be sterilized first to avoid contamination

 That vermicast have all the nutrient needed of mushroom to grow.

 It has the rice hull ass to correct the acidity and reduce contamination of

the medium.

 It has a 45 % moisture content ideal for mushroom.

 ¾ in Plastic neck with plug cotton

3.1.4 Container drum for sterilization

Fruiting bag have been sterilized at least 8 hours in boiling.

3.1.5 Firewood’s

3.1.6 Spawn

3.1.7 Mushroom growing house

The shed is divided into two. One side are for the 2 pile vermi fruiting bag and the

other side are the 2 pile common substrate fruiting bag. Each pile compost 5 by 5

fruiting bag. The dimension of the shed is 4m x 3m x 3m. There are ventilation

holes to the shed; mushrooms produce carbon dioxide as they grow and that gas

needs to escape the grow house. Intake and exhaust ventilation holes to have an

air circulation inside the room. The intake ventilation holes must be below and

the exhaust ventilation holes must be at the top of the housing. The ventilation

must be secure so that pest can’t enter.

3.1.8 Vermi worm

This worms are red wiggler worm

3.2 Cost Estimation

Materials Cost in pesos

 Vermicompost bin 1000

 50 Vermi Fruiting bag and 50 (150 x 50) + (90 x50) = 12000

common fruiting bag

 2 bags Vermiworm (40 pieces per 2x 4306 = 8612

bag)

 shed 4000

 1 bag Spawn 460 per bag

 Fire woods 500

 Container drum 400

Total 26,972
3.3 Research Design

Gather information on how to cultivate

mushroom and vermiculture

Construct the Vermi compost pit

Composting for 3 months

Construct the Growing house with two room

Making of fruiting bag with the vermi substrate

and the other common substrate

Sterilization of the fruiting bag

Planting The seed to the vermi fruiting bag and the

common fruiting bag

Hang the fruiting bags to the growing

house

Observe and record the result of the

different fruiting bag

Compare the growth and yield of the vermi

fruiting bag and the common fruit bag