Bindura couple strikes gold through mushroom farming

A BINDURA couple has struck gold through mushroom farming.

Mrs Adline Karedzera and her husband, Norman, ventured into mushroom production after watching a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation programme, ‘Green Studio’ after having tried farming other cash crops such as cotton, soya-beans and maize with little success.

“After having tried farming other cash crops such as cotton, soya-beans and maize which proved to be capital intensive, we decided to venture into mushroom production in 2008 after watching a ZBC programme ‘Green Studio’,” said Mrs Karedzera.

“I went for mushroom production training conducted by Mr Sibare in Harare. It is a fact that there are some mushroom species that are extremely poisonous if consumed, but when I went for training on mushroom farming I was taught about two species which are not poisonous which are Buttoral mushroom and Oyster which comes in grey and white.

“I am specializing in these species. These ones can safely be consumed without any fear or doubt. Many people think that mushroom is lethal when grown among gum trees, but we produce them here on gum poles.

“It is not the gum trees which make them toxic, but it would just be a poisonous species.”

Mrs Karedzera said they were the largest suppliers of mushroom in Mashonaland Central Province, supplying large supermarkets like OK Bindura, Choppies Bindura, Duecon and OK Mbuya Nehanda Branch.

Mrs Karedzera said in between she has been going for refresher courses in mushroom farming in Mandara, Harare, and most recently in Hatfield, so that she gets an in-depth understanding of mushroom farming. She said mushroom farming had its own costs like buying the seed from South Africa.

There are also labour and chemical costs which the farmer needs to factor in.

“After planting, you can manage to look after the mushroom without any labour required,” said Mrs Karedzera. “We usually do that the three of us, myself, my husband and our gardener.

“It also does not require vast tracks of land as one can do it successfully on his or her backyard. It is also easy to supervise while engaging in other projects like poultry and gardening.”

Mrs Karedzera said it takes up to 15 days for the mushroom to generate and on the 18th day one can start harvesting.

“The other problem that they face is that the mushroom requires low temperatures and it is easily affected by the hot temperatures which are usually experienced in Bindura,” she said.

“There is need to continuously monitor it, which means that every morning there is need for us to be hands on and provide water at least three times daily.”

Mrs Karedzera said during the first days, she harvested up to 100 palettes per day, weighing about 200 grammes.

She said one could keep the mushroom for up to five to six months.

The greatest secret on mushroom production, said Mrs Karedzera, was that it needed a lot of training in order to succeed.

“I have been to several training workshops and now I can plant the mushroom without even referring to anything and can even know what is lacking,” she said. “As time goes on you get to know more about it while also learning from others.”

Mrs Karedzera said she was now selling dried mushroom due to the demand from her customers who think dried mushroom taste better than fresh ones.