Mushroom Production for Food Security in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper focused on mushroom production for food security in Nigeria. Mushroom cultivation has found a niche among small scale famers. Previously there were picked from wild forest, but now, many farmers are growing mushroom for their nutritional value as well as for medicinal purposes. The requirement for mushroom production which are spawn, substrate, and compost are identify and the categories of edible mushroom, the button mushroom (Agaricu Bisporus) and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus Sp.) were also identified. Constraints to production include lack of quality spawn, problem of pest and disease, complex process of obtaining loan and lack of proper skills in production. Recommendations were made around the aspects of training on mushroom cultivation, financial institutions should make loans flexible to farmers, government should encourage the use of laboratories to produce and distribute spawn and government should consider mushroom productions as an agricultural activities. It concluded that, mushroom farming may flourish like mushroom growth in the coming years; if the problems identified and attended urgently and remedial measures are undertaken at the earliest.

Keywords: Mushroom: Production: Food: Security: Food security.