Many people have lately realized what a
potential we have in agribusiness in Kenya and have gone into some of the
lucrative ventures in the country such as Kienyeji chicken farming, fruit
farming and dairy. However, not so many people have realized how profitable
mushroom farming is in Kenya.
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| A Mushroom farm in Kenya |
Let me give you some facts about
mushroom farming in this country that will stir your interest: one, according
to the National Farmers Information Service (NAFIS), our country produces only
500 tons of mushrooms per year yet the demand just within the country is 1200
tons.
Do you know what that means? The
consumers of mushrooms in our country have to import at least 700 tons every
year. Such a high and undersupplied demand only means one thing: there is huge
ready market for mushrooms making its farming a huge business opportunity as
well.
Another fact that will excite you about
mushroom farming is that you do not need several acres of land to make a good
income. In Kenya, some farmers are actually turning their backyards and even garages
into mushroom farms, and confess that
they make way more than what they did from their large scale farming of other crops.
But well, it’s not all easy money and
overnight success as the foregoing statements might make it sound. To start a
solid business in mushroom farming, one needs to invest in a number of things. Let’s
take you through these things; we shall be glad to clarify anything that doesn’t
come out clearly later. You can always Call Richfarm Kenya or Whatsapp us on
0724698357.
So the first investment you need to
make is building a mushroom growing house. It’s not really costly: in fact, all
you need is a simple mud-house with a grass thatched roof. This can be done the
very traditional way of using posts and sticks to build the wall structure then
fill it up with mud or you can do it as we did using earthen bricks as shown
below.
Mushroom farming house
Once the house is complete, you need to
make shelves. We chose to use wood and off-cuts since these are readily
available and cheap materials. These shelves are used hold the mushroom growing
bags. Now that’s where the science starts- the bags!
Mushroom growing bags are simply
plastic bags filled with a material called a substrate. The substrate is
specially prepared using agricultural. Basically, anything grown on land is a
potential substrate for mushroom cultivation. One may use rice husks, dry banana
leaves or coconut waste. Anything from the legume family, such as bean waste,
is great because of the nitrogen content. Most commercial mushroom farmers in
Kenya use hay, wheat straw or rice husks. Its preparation process is a bit
detailed; I cannot cover it in this article but you can always reach us by
email or Whatsapp for help in that.
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| Mushroom Growing Bags already filled with substrate |
Next are the spawns, or the mushroom
seeds. These seeds can only be bought from a professional propagator so as to
be sure you get clean, non-contaminated material. On average, 1 kg of spawn will
cost ksh600 and would be enough for approximately 40 standard size bags. These
seeds are introduced in the bags filled with the substrate and all a farmer
does from there on is simply maintain the recommended moisture levels in the
bags and the growing house, and wait to start harvesting: no weeding, no
spraying pesticides and fungicides and no working under a scorching sun!
Due to the crop’s lower cost of
production and the high yielding capacity, mushrooms present a good opportunity
for small to middle scale farmers. A kilo of mushroom retails at between ksh
400 to ksh 600. This high profit margin means that one will take a shorter time
to break even and eventually make profits.
There are a total of fifteen different
cultivated mushrooms varieties in the world. A farmer may need to know the
various types in order to make the right decision when investing in this
sector. The most common ones in Kenya are button and Oyster mushrooms. There
are exotic mushrooms that can be grown, often for medicinal use, but they
require more skills to grow and knowledge of the markets to find buyers.
Button mushrooms are quite popular and
readily available. The downside is that they are prone to diseases and
infections. Oyster mushrooms on the other hand, are hardier and more resistant
to infections. Besides, substrates for button mushrooms are prepared and
cultured a month ahead. For oyster mushrooms, you can pasteurize your substrate
today and introduce the spawns the following day.
The mushrooms are best when freshly
picked, so most are sold to local consumers. After they are harvested, they are
delivered to local chefs, food co-ops, grocery stores and directly to consumers
at the local market.
CHALLENGES
One of the things that can eat into
your profits is firewood for pasteurization, which is costly. If one fails to
pasteurize properly, the fungi develops mould and that’s a loss. The good thing
is that you can buy ready bags of professionally prepared substrate, already
spawned (the mushroom seeds already sowed) from Richfarm Kenya.
HARVESTING
AND MARKETING
Once ready, mushrooms are harvested consistently
twice or thrice a week. Mushrooms have a high demand in Kenya but of course you
have to seek this market. That simply involves informing potential buyers,
mostly hotels and supermarkets, of your products. You will get very nice orders
especially if you can prove to them that you will be a consistent supplier.
