Abel Kiddu, a mushroom farmer at Makindye, says that mushroom growing is a business that can be very profitable within a few weeks.
Starting your own business opt for Oyster mushroom variety because it has more demand and profitability is fair.
Harvest can start from 21 days and can go on for over 150 days. Air temperature during cropping should be held between 57 to 62 degrees for good results.
Because the dry season is already here, it’s important to irrigate. Therefore, if you have water and you can plant these crops now, you will leap much because at the time of your harvest, many of the farmers will be planting and thus supply will be low and the prices high.
According to Kiddu, making a garden is not so complicated.
“You need cotton husks which for me I buy in bulk from districts like Lira and Soroti and store since I make many gardens on a daily. A bag of 40kgs costs sh20, 000,” he says.
You need to sock the cotton in water for about an hour then drain it to a level of just being moist before packing it into polythene bags. Also, Boil the bags and kill the germs that could be on them.
“You need to have water because it’s necessary to sock and cook and it is one of the highest expenditures because every month I pay about sh200,000 for water bills,” he says.
Pack the cotton husks into polythene bags before cooking them. After packing, place it well into a metallic drum.
But put sticks at the bottom to prevent water from logging into your cotton because it affects the quality of that cotton, garden and harvest as well.
It is advisable to cook it in the evening for about three hours and then let it cool down throughout the night. Open it in the morning.
Whenever you are going to touch the gardens, you have to wash your hands with water mixed with Jik to ensure all the germs are killed.
After cooling, put it in a clean, dry and cold place for 1-2 days before you put on the mushroom seeds (spawn). In 30 days it will be ready to bear mushrooms.
“I sell my gardens at 27 days,” he says.
