Mushroom husbandry: A tool for pollution control and waste management with job opportunities and revenue for rural communities and farm settlements

Most rural communities in Africa openly dispose untreated wastes in water and on land, resulting in environmental pollution and the spread of deadly diseases in human (e.g., cholera, typhoid), plants (e.g., wilt, gall/wart, rot), and animals (e.g., skin/gut infections). Therefore, conversion of untreated wastes to substrate for mushroom cultivation was the focus of this research. Wild edible mushrooms (chemical-free) and wastes were collected, sorted, profiled and analyzed using standard laboratory techniques. Physicochemical profiling of the wastes showed the presence of lignin (<30%), cellulose (<60%), and hemicellulose (<58%) that are mildly impervious, non-biodegradable substances which can mostly be degraded by mushrooms. The results showed that mushroom spawn-production period was reduced by 11, 15, 16 and 16% on rice straw for Sample 1 (23¼ days), Sample 2 (21¼ days), Sample 3 (20¼ days) and Sample 6 (221/10 days), respectively; 10 and 7% on sawdust for Sample 4 (23½ days) and Sample 5 (203/5 days), respectively. Developmental periods were also reduced by 9, 12, 14, 3, and 9% when grown on G. sepium (i.e., 26½, 25½, 24¾, 25¾ and 291/10 days for Samples 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, respectively), and 9% on M. indica (i.e., 26½ days for Samples 4). The yield was increased by 7% on Cedrus odorata (Samples 1 and 2), 11% on G. sepium (Samples 3), and 7% on M. indica (Samples 4 and 5). The outcome of the research showed that more money and job opportunity can be created from waste re-use rather than waste disposal.