Abstract

                                The present study aimed to selectpotential strainof Volvariella volvaceasuitable for outdoor cultivation in different cropping systems like Banana,Maize, Coconut, Coconut+Banana where such suitable microclimate prevails.Among the different strains of V.volvaceatested, the strain Vv-19-06 obtainedfrom Directorate of Mushroom Research, Solan,performed considerablysuperior with higher bioefficiency of 17.44 and sturdy sporophores at eggstage and storage life of 1.1 days under refrigerated condition.Moreover,the morphogenesis of button stage to matured mushrooms were extendedup to 1.8 days and the opened mushroom were retained on the bed foranother 1.6 days, which is an added advantage.Cultivation of paddy strawmushroom as intercrop in Banana, Maize, Banana+coconut and Coconutcropping systems proved successful with spawn running completion rangingfrom 8 to 10.3 days, pinhead formation ranging from 9.3 to 11.6 days andharvestable button/egg stage appeared ranging from 11 to 12.6 days. Thebioefficiency was comparatively better in all the cropping systems, whichranged from 19.4 to 20.6 %, with a total cropping cycle of 20.5 to 22 days.Theindoor cropping system, which requires additional cost for infrastructure, alsorecorded bioefficiecy of 21.3 in a cropping cycle of 17 days. In all the croppingsystems tested, the B:C ratio worked out to be 1:2.3 to 1:2.5 as in indoorcropping system proving that paddy straw mushroomcould be promoted forthe outdoor systemin Maize, Banana, Banana +coconut , Coconut croppingsystems as intercrop as it fetches additional income to rice-growing farmers

Key words : Paddy straw mushroom; inter crop; biological efficiency; V.volvacea; outdoor cultivation