By Fredrick Obura
Commercial mushroom cultivation could be a major source of income for small-scale farmers across the country, if an initiative by researchers to popularise the crop, and increase consumption bears fruit.
Justus Wambua of Biosafe Technologies says an intensive effort in demystifying technologies involved in mushroom growth and value addition has changed people’s perception of the crop.
"Compared to six years ago, there has been improvement almost by ten fold in cultivation," he said.
Taking Advantage
Currently the country imports about 150 tonnes of mushrooms annually from China. But small-scale farmers from Rift Valley, Central, Coast and Western provinces, are now taking advantage of available industrial and agricultural waste to grow mushrooms for commercial purposes.
"The main mushroom markets are hotels, supermarkets and grocers in major towns and cities. People buy mushrooms for as much as Sh1000 a kilo," Wambua adds.
"Mushroom offers lucrative business, requires no arable land for production, and provides diversification with benefits such as increased income, employment, and food and nutrition security," Says JKUAT Senior Technician Patrick Muchiri.
Constraints to production, revealed in a 2007 consultative stakeholders’ workshop, include high input costs, lack of quality spawn, diseases and pests, lack of proper skills in production and post harvest handling, and a lean government extension service.
"Most of small growers are forced to transport the products from rural areas to Nairobi, but the additional costs are prohibitive," Muchiri says.
Kenya has abundant agricultural capacity to offer opportunity for production.
The crop’s dependence on agricultural waste for growth provides a more economical and environmentally friendly disposal system," he adds.
He said that there needs to be a joint participation of players in production, extension, research, policy, and marketing in order to optimise the mushroom value chain.