The “Production of Edible Mushrooms” course, offered successfully for over two decades as an extension activity by the UFV Microbiology Department, was one of the highlight activities at the X Congresso Brasileiro de Micologia, held in Belo Horizonte last week. Professor Marliane de Cássia Soares da Silva, from the Postgraduate Program in Agricultural Microbiology, was responsible for taking the course to the event, accompanied by farmer Gilmar Silva de Medeiros, from Semear Treinamentos.

Around 30 participants took part in the one-day course. In the first part, Marliane and Gilmar gave an overview of the main edible mushrooms produced and sold in Brazil, especially Lentinula edodes (Shiitake) and Pleurotus, focusing on their economic, environmental, food and health importance. In the second half of the course, the focus was on practice, with the demonstration of techniques and the creation of a small mushroom production.

“I had high expectations for this course, I saw the program and thought it was cool, but it simply exceeded all my expectations. The teachers were very helpful, passed on a lot of information and really clarified everything,” says Daniel Sabbagh, a Biological Sciences undergraduate at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES). “And after all the theory, we still had the practical class where we were able to plant and take home our grow bag. Inoculating eucalyptus logs with Shiitake was something I never really thought I would do, it was an incredible experience!”

This is the first time the course has been given in partnership with a farmer. “I attended a lecture by Gilmar and invited him to give the course with me. I think it’s important to have a vision not only from a researcher, but also from a producer, because scaling mushroom production is a big challenge,” explains Marliane, highlighting the diverse profile of the course participants. “We have mycology students, but we also have people who want to invest on a large scale. I thought this interaction would be interesting, and it worked out very well.”

“We chose simple techniques to show that it is possible. Producers can’t always set up a laboratory at home, so the practical part was designed to show that it’s possible to start from scratch, in a simple way, and make money from it,” adds Gilmar.

“I loved it. I had already worked in some way with Pleurotus production, it wasn’t my first contact, but it was still very interesting,” says researcher Aníbal Alves de Carvalho Júnior, from the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute. “I had never seen inoculation on eucalyptus and it was a very good experience. Maybe I’ll even start a mushroom production!”