Mushroom Growing

Mushroom should no longer be identified with the scornful term, ‘Toad-stool’. Now it is regarded as a protein-rich-wonder food and is no less useful than other indispensable fungi like yeast, Penicillium, Streptomyces, etc. The role of yeast is to cause fermentation for making malt, bread, alcohol etc. The fungus Penicillium is the source of the life-saving antibiotic penicillin. The antibiotic streptomycin to cure tuberculosis is obtained from streptomyces. The remedy of the deadly disease cancer is likely to be discovered in fungi, ‘agerick’ the universal remedy for all diseases and ailments is produced from a fungus, Polyporus officinalis. All these have created a furore to exploit mushroom which is going to bring about a revolution in the sphere of nutritive food and efficacious medicine. The popularity of mushroom has grown since the time of the Greek and Roman civilizations. But the literature on its culture was first written in France during the reign of the great emperor Louis XIV (1638-1715). The modern agro-technique of mushroom along with other related topics have been presented by the able and distinguished rosarian and horticulturist S.C. Dey in this book.