From an accountant to mushroom farmer

Peter Ndagi, 30, is an accountant by profession but after three years of job hunting, he gave up and decided to venture into mushroom farming.

And the Business Management and Accounting graduate does not regret his decision. Ndagi recalls that what hurts him most during his job-hunting mission was that companies would only offer him manual jobs.

“The last job I was offered was a casual laborer at a logistic company. I was disappointed and wondered why I had studied for all that time,” he said.

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But in 2019, Ndagi embarked on his mushroom farming venture at their farm in Mangu, Rongai sub-county in Nakuru County. And two years later, the earnings from mushrooms has enabled him to expand into pig rearing.

Due to the pandemic, however, he didn’t make as much as he would have anticipated but he is hopeful that this will be a better year.

Even after completing his Bachelor in Business and Management (accounting option), Ndagi could only get employment in a logistics company as a casual labourer.

However, income from employment was not adequate and he quit his job to try agriculture.

After a year of research, he settled in mushroom farming but he had zero knowledge.

He tuned on the KTN owned farmers TV and that was where he got the idea of starting mushroom farming.

“I was motivated and even became more curious when I learned of a research done on mushroom benefits as food, especially to people living with cancer,” Ndagi told Smart Harvest in an interview last week.

Things got even more exciting when he established that there was a shortage of produce in the market and that Rwanda was the leading producer of mushrooms.

Early 2017, Ndagi through his research approached a farmer who had ventured into mushroom farming and he started to undergo training. From there he started farming in late 2018.

He stressed that the process of mushroom production from preparation to harvest is so complicated and sensitive that one wrong move may damage a three-month work.

Special training knowledge, skills and care must be taken to ensure the output is high in quantity and quality.

Mushroom is a fungi and needs to undergo preparation to give the best conditions for its production.

“Come and tag along as I take you through the process,” said Ndagi as he directed the Standard team to a three-by-six-shaded structure full of heaped composts.

The journey starts at the structure which he calls the preparation bay. There he makes compost that will be used to plant the mushroom.

The compost is made from wheat stray waste. He claimed that the straws are rich in Nitrogen content and assist in mushroom growth and yield.  

He added that fungi thrived well in decomposing matter because it is not a plant.

“We first spread the wheat straw on the ground and to decompose it, we pour water on it. We also add other matter; manure, sunflower, and gypsum to help enrichen the wheat straw with nutrients,” he said.

He then mixes the straw substrate slowly while adding water for 21 days.

From there, the heap undergoes a second stage of pasteurization inside a pasteurization chamber to kill flies that spread diseases and affect the production.

The chamber is air-tight to control insects and diseases attack on the decomposed compost.

“In 2018 when we planted mushroom for the first time, we faced a lot of challenges with flies and it affected our production. With the little money we had, we decided to construct a chamber for pasteurization,” he said.

The room is heated to about 70 to 85 degrees to kill insects and control the spread of diseases in the substrate remains in the chamber for seven days.

After one week, the heaps are taken to a mud house roofed with grass. The room which is 14 feet long, six feet wide and three feet high is covered with grass to regulate the temperature.

“Mushroom growth will require different weather conditions. We use lamps to heat the room and poor water on the roof to reduce the temperature,” he said.

The first process is called colonization, where mushroom seeds is spread inside the substrate.

To allow this, the substrates are put in polythene bags called bales, and the mushroom seed placed. The paper is then closed and doors and windows shut and temperature maintained between 20 and 23 degrees.

“The fungi need Carbon Iv Oxide and no oxygen for the next two weeks,” he said.

After the two weeks, the polythene bags are opened and colonization is seen where mycelium is spreading on the substrates.

The next process is adding soil to the mushroom. According to Ndagi, the plant only works well in a virgin soil- not been used for long and with no chemicals.

He said that he gets the soil from Menengai crater, comes and heats it up, and add lime to make the soil alkaline. “We regulate the soil to have a pH of between 7 and 7.2 because it is conducive for mushrooms.”

The soil is for anchorage to ensure the mushroom has support during germination in the substrate.

After the soil is added, the polythene bag is then closed for a week or two. It is then opened and water added when the mushroom emerge.

After the mushroom emerge, Ndagi will have to wait for another week to start harvesting them. The harvest is continuous for over two and a half months.

Ndagi has two mud house. The second one is under construction. The completed room carries about 200 bales with wheat straw substrates.

One bale produces about 2 to 3kgs of mushroom and Ndagi sells in 250 grams’ panels. He harvests and stocks between 100 panels per day in the two-and-a-half-month period.

Ndagi’s consumers include supermarkets, restaurants and people with ill-health conditions.

“The biggest challenges in this farming is controlling pest and diseases, temperatures and fluctuation in prices due to brokers,” he said.

However, he noted that there are high demands in the produce and mushrooms are accepted by people because it has many health benefits.

Compared to others, mushroom is a clever food that needs a lot of experience, he stressed.

One panel of fresh mushrooms goes at between Sh180 to Sh200 while that of dry mushroom may go up to Sh800 per panel.

Mushroom are used to make mushroom soup and make flour for porridge and ugali.

He plans to be the best mushroom farmer in the country and wants to expand and construct more mushroom houses on his three-acre farm.

He uses the money to feed his family, support the education of his two children and expand his pigs rearing project.

“I want to be a known farmer in Kenya and Africa and I would like to have more than 50 houses and help in feeding the nation programme,” he said.

Expert opinion

Wambui Kuria of Farmer on Fire who is a farmer and an expert in mushroom farming, said that the fungi do not need soil to grow.

Ms Kuria told the standard that mushroom has nutritional benefits, “They have a lot of Protein and vitamins, have zero cholesterol, high in micro nutrients of zinc and Magnesium that boost immunity.”

She said that income from mushroom is very high, has a high value and little capital is needed for the project.

“Competing fungi, temperature control, perishable and high cost of products may pose a challenge in mushroom production,” she said.