Mushroom farming is a lucrative business in Kenya. If you’re interested in starting a mushroom farm, there are a few things you need to know. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the basics of mushroom farming and provide tips for getting started. We’ll also give an overview of the Kenyan mushroom market and advice on improving your mushroom farming adventure. So, if you’re considering starting a mushroom farm in Kenya, read on!
The following are five crucial steps on how you may start a mushroom farm in Kenya:
1. Acquire a Piece of Land
Naturally, it would help if you had some land to grow your crop of mushrooms. A huge farm with the capacity to produce up to 2 tons of mushrooms every two months may be established on a plot of ground that is just 1/8 of an acre in size. You may also implement the shelf-frame method of farming.
2. Construct a Simple House
Once you’ve found a nice piece of land, you’ll need to construct a straightforward mud-house and a few wooden shelves to use the available vertical space. The house should be properly ventilated to ensure proper airflow.
To reduce the cost of construction, you can improvise by using locally accessible materials with the assistance of your neighborhood carpenter.
3. Obtain the Substrate
The substrate is the first and most crucial supply you will require. In a nutshell, substrate is the material that mushrooms grow on. Forest soil, wheat straw, bean straw, millet straw, or even rice straw might be used in place of this.
As even a small bacterial infection might damage your entire farm, be sure to sterilize this. You will want roughly 20 bales of wheat straw, which costs around Ksh 200 per bale.
4. Purchase Nylon Bags
Small bags for seedling preparation and large bags for the actual planting are required. At 200 pieces each, the little bags that shops often use to package sugar cost roughly Ksh 110. On a farm with an area of 1/8 of an acre, you will need about 1000 larger bags, costing up to Ksh18 per bag.
5. Obtain Mushroom Seeds
Last, you’ll need some mushroom seeds (also known as spawns). These are available via KARI or JKUAT. Button spawns are the most well-liked (and convenient to sell).
With Ksh1,000, you can buy one kilogram of button spawns. You only need 5 kilograms to begin going. You can also grow oyster and shiitake mushrooms.
How to Make Your Mushroom Farm Successful as a Beginner
1. Always keep the growing environment sterile and clean.
2. It is advisable to test out a small farm before establishing a large one.
3. Speak with a local agriculture extension officer for more guidance.
4. Ask farmers who are already doing this for mentorship to learn about the difficulties they encounter.
5. Research your market options beforehand to avoid unpleasant surprises and disappointments at the last minute.
Things to Avoid When Starting a Mushroom Farm
1. If you don’t handle mushrooms properly, you risk losing all of your investment because mushrooms are delicate crops.
2. Never purchase seeds (spawns) from less expensive than normal vendors; always purchase from reliable vendors, such as JKUAT.
3. Take your time and don’t rush. Patience is key in mushroom farming if you want to reap full profits from it.
How Much to Invest in a Mushroom Farming Business?
You will need to invest Ksh. 240,000 to start a 1/8th farm from scratch. The cost of running successful farming seasons will, however, decrease to roughly Ksh140,000 once the farm home is built and the necessary supplies are purchased.
How Much to Anticipate from Mushroom Farming Business
Button mushrooms mature in less than 14 weeks (2 months), and a farm with 1000 bag platforms on an eighth of an acre can yield up to 2 tons of output. The average cost per kilogram is Ksh 700, which translates to sales revenue of up to Ksh 1.4 million.
Challenges of Mushroom Farming in Kenya
Although the production and cultivation of mushrooms have grown significantly over the years in Kenya, there are still some issues that mushroom growers must deal with during the cultivation and marketing of their products.
These issues include:
1. Lack of cultivation houses.
2. Lack of good spawn.
3. Lack of funding.
4. Lack of equipment.
5. Unavailability of markets and opportunities for local marketing.
6. Limited storage facilities.
Related Articles
Challenges Of Mushroom Farming In Kenya
Cost Of Starting A Mushroom Farm In Kenya
