The quality of the bag fi lling and placement was impressive with all bags fi lled to the same height and strictly placed with the proper spacing.
At the beach. Not a bad place to unwind after a farm visit!
Production team with Kurade and the author.
Picking the mushrooms.
Dr. Kurade’s produce.
After a relatively short compost cycle in low pressure bunkers the compost is loader filled into also low pressured phase II tunnels where the pasteurization process is successfully applied. The system seemed to be doing the job since according to Dr. Kurade, yields per ton were ~300 kg/ton phase II compost. All this is done without bunker/tunnel fillers, blending apparatus, or watering systems. The only piece of equipment was a loader and some hand held hoses, but they were used to good effect since the blend and wet-up was meticulously done in small batches of 50 tons each.
Consistent pinning
After phase II the compost is loader emptied and filled into a metering hopper. From there the pasteurized compost is spawned and hand filled into bags. Most of the bags are immediately staged onto racks at the newer and larger Ponda facility and the rest are transported to Canacona. The quality of the bag filling and placement was impressive with all bags filled to the same height and strictly placed with the proper spacing. No CAC was used in the coir, soil, and limestone casing, which was applied as consistently as the bag fill and placement was. As such the pinning was consistent enough to get a good yield on first flush as well as good quality and sizing. The three flushes amounted to a total of ~30 kg/m2
, but given the lowish fill height amount to ~300 kg/ton phase II.
Kingfi shers and curry After a full day at the farms Dr. Kurade treated me to a great evening at Canacona beach where we dined on freshly caught seafood at a beach restaurant. There we continued our discussions of his farms, the global mushroom industry, and things in general. Regarding his farms, I found them very well organized, very logical in application, and very cost effective using effective, creative design, and a system that suits his location perfectly. Regarding the global industry we discussed cultural and operational trends, as well as the positive nature of the future of our industry. Regarding things in general, being an American, in India, just after our elections, conversation eventually gravitated to the US political situation, which he found quite amusing. Enough said.
On the tortuous ride back I reflected on the camaraderie that is common in the mushroom world. I’ve visited many farms around the world on a call-in basis, sometimes at the door, and have always been given the courtesy of a farm tour, interesting discussions, and usually a social time afterwards. How good is that! On a holiday though? Opps, recompense is required at “home”, so what better way than to treat my wife to slow day at the beach, a few Kingfishers, a great curry dinner, and minimal talk of mushroom. Until the next time...
MUSHROOM BUSINESS 35
The farm was
designed and built inexpensively and the market was built from the ground up.
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