By Ralph Noble (Microbiotech Ltd, UK), Greg Gegembauer and Diego Zied (UNESP, Brazil) BRAZIL
Three farms in Sao Paulo State
In the 1980s there were over 1000 mushroom growers in Brazil, but cheap imports of canned mushrooms from China caused a large decline in the industry so that button mushroom cultivation reduced by almost a third. However, there has been a recent revival in the fresh mushroom market, particularly in higher value exotic species and there are now about 50 growers. Around 48% of the production is oyster mushrooms, 33% button mushrooms and 19% shiitake.
Left: Greg, Ralph and Diego with Eduardo.
Below: Nameko (Pholiota microspore).
Substrate raw materials Brazil has an abundance of agro- and forestry- organic wastes that can be used for making mushroom cultivation substrates, although some of these by-products have alternative energy and animal feed values. Eucalyptus sawdust and sugar-cane bagasse are produced in huge quantities and are much cheaper than traditional mushroom substrate raw materials such as hardwood sawdust and cereal straw. Wheat straw is only available in the south of Brazil; straw from brachiaria grass is available in some states. Brazil has one of the world’s largest farm chicken populations so that poultry manure is abundant. However, it is often lower in nitrogen than supplies in Europe or North America, so that supplementation with inorganic nitrogen sources such as urea and ammonia sulphate is usually needed. Locally produced soya meal can also be used as a nitrogen or protein source because it is cheaper than in many countries. Farms producing exotics produce their own substrates whereas most compost for button mushrooms is produced at a single site, although some small farms in more remote areas such as Brasilia make their own compost. We visited three farms in Sao Paulo State to see how local and imported raw materials are used for growing different mushroom species.
Cogumelos Urakami, Mogi das Cruzes The company was set up in the 1990s by the father of the current owner, Eduardo Urakami. They produce about 45 tonnes of mushrooms per week on three sites. The products are black oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), king oyster (Pleurotus eryngii), shiitake (Lentinula edodes), enoki
34 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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