Evaluating Millet Straw as an Alternative Substrate for Calocybe indica Cultivation: A Comparative Study with Paddy Straw

Abstract

This study aims to explore the use of pearl millet straw as an alternative substrate for cultivating milky white mushroom (Calocybe indica) for evaluating its effectiveness in terms of yield, growth parameters, and biological efficiency. Five different treatment combination were tested viz., T1 (100% paddy straw), T2 (25% pearl millet straw + 75% paddy straw), T3 (50% pearl millet straw + 50% paddy straw), T4 (75% pearl millet straw + 25% paddy straw), and T5 (100% pearl millet straw).  Among all treatments, T1 recorded 24.07 days for spawn running in bags, 11.95 days for pin head formation and average number of 42.32 fruiting bodies per bed, fruit body weight (67.07g). Followed by the treatment (T2) recorded 25.12 days for spawn run, 13.82 days for pin head formation and average number of 24.72 fruiting bodies per bed, fruit body weight (43.62g) compared to T3, T4 and T5. Biological efficiency was highest in T1 (76.33%) followed by T2 (56.52%) and T3 (55.07%). The results highlighted the potential ability to use pearl millet straw (25 %) in combination with paddy straw (75 %) to get better yields on par with paddy straw alone in mushroom farming by utilizing locally available agricultural wastes.