Cultivation of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) using cogon grass (Imperata cylindrica) as substrate

Abstract

Mushroom cultivation is popular throughout the world, mostly in Asia, America, and Europe, because of its simple, low-cost production technology and high biological efficiency. There is a necessity to find alternative substrates for mushroom cultivation to maximize the productivity of oyster mushrooms. The study was conducted to determine the effects of cogon grass as a substrate in the cultivation of tissue-cultured oyster mushrooms. Specifically, this aims to determine the effects of different levels of cogon grass in the substrate on the growth and yield of oyster mushrooms and determine which level of cogon grass in the substrate will promote the best growth and yield of oyster mushrooms. The study was conducted in the Mushroom Research and Development Center of Capiz State University, Burias Campus, Burias, Mambusao, Capiz, from February 2017 to June 2017. The study was conducted in a Completely Randomized Design with four treatments, namely: Treatment A – Standard Media, Treatment B - 25% cogon grass and 75% Standard media, Treatment C – 50% cogon grass and 50% Standard media, and Treatment D - 75% cogon grass and 25% Standard media wherein it was replicated three times. Each treatment was represented by 10 bags per replication. All data gathered on the number of fruit bodies, number of flushes, average weight of fruit bodies, and length of fruit bodies was subjected to the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the F-test, and the results were interpreted in both 5% and 1% levels of significance. Significant differences among treatment means were determined using the Least Significant Difference test.