Mushrooms provide proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids and minerals. These are recommended to diabetic and anaemic persons. These are used as antibiotic, anti-allergic, and for anaesthesia.

Mushrooms are also used as a powder or tincture for swollen glands, epilepsy while its extract inhibits the growth of some viruses. It can help in lowering the blood pressure, and are also active against tumour cells. The desert mushroom is used with butter for broken bones.

Mushrooms are observed on manure heaps and dump places like fields, woods, forests, water channels, bunds and on grassy grounds or on plains, mountainous and coastal areas. Inedible types are unattractive because of poor flavour, taste, texture, size, colour and shape. Many are poisonous while others are edible. Wild mushrooms must not be eaten unless identified by experts.

Mushrooms absorb oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Artificially cultivated mushrooms need different ranges of temperature, humidity, light and ventilation. The nature has gifted most suitable environmental conditions from sea level to high mountains, where various kinds of mushrooms grow naturally.

These can be cultivated in green houses, growth chambers, ditches, caves, huts, hovels, cottages, cellars, garages, sheds or shelters, bee hive shaped huts, thatched or meted roofs, thick tree groves and gardens, kitchens, bathrooms or other extra rooms of a house or any other vacant building.

The propagating material used for mushroom cultivation is called spawn. It is equivalent to the seedlings developed from seeds of higher plants as in the case of vegetables. Different agricultural or industrial straw waste can be used for its cultivation.

Mostly, wheat, paddy, barley, oat and gram straw, banana, sugarcane and maize leaves, empty millet heads and corn cobs, cotton waste, thin sticks and boll locales, sugarcane baggage, banana pseudostems, saw dust, logs, straw papers, manure etc., are used as substrate (medium) for cultivation. In Pakistan, a huge quantity of crop wastes is available at low cost which could be converted into edible mushrooms.

Oyster is a commercially grown mushroom in competition with the button mushroom and resembles the shape of shellfish. It is consumed fresh and also in dried form. These are easy to cultivate, need less expenses and care.

Paddy straw, leaves of different crops and empty corn cobs are chopped into 3-5cm long pieces. Threshed wheat straw, cotton waste, saw dust, cotton boll locules and empty millet heads are also used for its growth.

Mushrooms grown on paddy straw are called straw or paddy straw mushrooms. It is also known as Chinese mushroom. This can be consumed fresh and dried, both.

The white mushrooms, resembling the shape of button are known as button, meadow or European mushrooms. These are largely grown and greatly consumed throughout the world with almost 80 per cent share among growing mushrooms. These are difficult to cultivate, need more expenses and longer time. Rice husks or wheat grains are best for spawn preparation but need different types of composts with different compositions. The process of compost making is termed as composting.

Many believe that the desert mushrooms are Nature’s gift and rain its seed. The dark brown to black powdery mass developed in matured mushrooms with huge quantity of spores is not seed but serves as a mean of seed. The desert mushroom can also be cultivated artificially. It does not need tissue culture or artificially prepared spawn, but only matured mushroom spores can directly be used for sowing purpose. The results show that there is no need of agricultural or industrial waste, nor a process of soaking, boiling or sterilizing of such material is required. On the other hand, it can be simply cultivated on flat bed of soil.

Sandy to sandy loam soil in the surrounding of thick grove of trees and gardens or ordinary shed can be prepared as direct sun rays are dangerous for this mushroom.

Most of the mushrooms are harvested through picking by hand. The harvesting of oyster mushroom could be done with the help of sharp knife or blade, at the base. If there are many pinheads then cut it carefully, so that the nearby pins are not disturbed.

Any mature mushroom (harvested or diseased), their stalks and refuse or solid portions left in the bed should be removed and destroyed, to minimize the risk of diseases and pests.