Control Measures for Mushroom Diseases

Control Measures for Mushroom Diseases

If you run a mushroom production farm, you will have to adhere to strict sanitation and hygiene in the farm, which is extremely essential if you want to prevent mushroom diseases. There are certain basic practices that should be carried out in the mushroom farm to aid in proper mushroom disease prevention and control.

1. You should always ensure that the stumps and trash accumulated in your farm are collected and disposed of everyday.
2. You should never sweep a dry floor in the mushroom farm, in addition, make sure that no excess water is splashed in the rooms after casing, harvesting or spawning is done.
3. All the equipments that are used in and around the mushroom farm like licking and thrash boxes, cashing machines and so on, must be cleaned and disinfect before and after each use. First, the excess material should be removed and then, the equipment should be cleaned with water and then disinfected with formaldehyde, sodium hypochlorite or any other appropriate cleaning agent.
4. If you notice a disease in the mushroom crops, they should immediately be covered with salt (NaCl), lime (Ca(OH2), lime and gypsum (CaSO4) mix. If you find that the mushrooms have been affected by Trichoderma green mold, you should cover it with a mix of lime, sodium hypochlorite and salt.
5. Any casing or compost that is filled on the floor should be considered to be contaminated and should be discarded.
   
   
   
6. The casing material needs to be stored on concrete, under cover, protecting it from contamination by soil, dust, spent substrate and compost.
7. Installing highly efficient filters in the mushroom facility is also extremely important. Try to minimise the dust in the farm premises.
8. In case of a major disease, the farm crew should be restricted in movement, till the farm operations are complete.
9. Spawns should be stored in a cool and clean room, away from other mushrooms.
10. Finally, remember that terminating infected crop early, using steam is a very good move, as it will significantly reduce the chances of the disease spreading to newer rooms.

Some of the diseases

Bacterial Blotch, Mummy disease, Dry bubble, Wet bubbles, green molds, cobwebs and X-disease are just some of the diseases that may affect your mushrooms. You can avoid Dry bubble disease my cropping for three breaks only and following strict sanitation. To remove Mummy disease, you will have to remove 20-cm wide section of compost across the beds and 1.5 m from both the sides of the infection. Formalin solution should then be used to treat the surface. 

Cobweb can be controlled with the help of salt, lime or gypsum and lime mix by following proper sanitation and maintaining the right temperature. X disease, or La France disease on the other hand, is almost impossible to cure without complete sterilisation of the production facility and everything related to it. 

Some of the other mushroom diseases to look out for and to prevent are Aphanocladium Cap Spotting, Hormiactis Cap Spot, Gill Mildew, Shaggy Stipe and Truffle disease.