‘The weakness of the European exotics sector is
mainly formed by the lack of professionality when compared to button mushroom producers’.
their own substrate with varying quality. Substrate also represents a substantial part of the production costs. The cultivation itself is mainly based on experience rather than on fundamental research results and consequently yield as well as quality can vary considerably from cycle to cycle. The market is also instable with varying demands.
Opportunities are the professionalization of the production system with an improved climate control and advanced cultivation skills that will lead to a predictable yield and quality. Also, adoption of the appropriate postharvest technology can reduce the losses associated with surplus production enhancing the income of the growers by value-addition. In Greece, for example, a promising concept of solar drying has been initiated to produce both traditional and novel mushroom products. Investments are needed to improve this situation such as adaptation of climate control, research to optimize the cultivation and a high degree of organisation of growers to exchange their experiences.
The sector’s threats are the uncertain future of several companies where extension services and education is (almost) absent. Also, research dedicated to exotic mushrooms is rare compared to what is done in East Asian countries.
Opportunities
The data generated were subsequently discussed with the main substrate producers in the Netherlands, Germany and Greece since they have contact with many primary producers and can help to extract the common items. The condensed form of this SRIA is shown in Table 2 (a more elaborated version can be downloaded from the website). The SRIA for exotic mushrooms will be part of the entire SRIA for mushrooms including Agaricus bisporus species and might thus deviate from the evaluation of the SMEs in the exotic mushroom sector only. This SRIA was scheduled to be communicated to the European commission in October. The needs
Breeding new varieties and exploring existing ones Substrate preparation (raw materials, production techniques)
Innovative/novel processing technologies (adding value, extension of shelf life, minimizing losses)
Waste management (spent mushroom substrate and by-product utilization) Innovative solutions for sustainable mushroom packaging Labelling and traceability (increase overall transparency) Business continuity (marketing tools, training management, personnel)
Table 2: Main items of the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for exotic mushrooms MUSHROOM BUSINESS 31
of several SMEs in traditional food production, including companies in the exotic mushroom sector, will thus be included in the European research agenda and upcoming calls will be based on these research agendas. This offers opportunities to generate EU funded projects in order to fulfil the needs of these sectors. For one of the main items on the list, lack of varieties, the project will generate a document that indicates what is present in collections as wild and commercial lines and might form a base for a first screening for improved varieties in the coming years for some exotic mushroom species.
Call for cooperation Scientists from the EU-Trafoon project are asking your opinion for possible project ideas and willingness to cooperate in a project for the coming years. Just give your opinion of what subject(s) on the SRIA are important for you and indicate if you are in principle interested in cooperation in a project. We will collect this input and generate ideas to develop a project that can be funded by EU or local grants. The ultimate content of the project will be deter- mined by your main needs as the SME represen- tative since you will be the user of the project’s outcomes. Please email your opinion to anton.
sonnenberg@wur.nl or
dimitrios.argyropoulos@
uni-hohenheim.de.
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