The mushroom season has not yet arrived, but at the same time, the thought of creating a man-made mushroom plantation at home, in the basement or in a summer cottage probably comes to your mind, just like me. And from the idea to its implementation, as they say, is just a stone’s throw away! After all, depending on the type of mushrooms, everyone can create a mushroom farm with their own hands.
Today, it is not a problem in stores for summer residents and in specialized companies to purchase mycelium (that is, mycelium), which will be the grain that will make your dream come true. And often grain in the literal sense of the word. After all, mycelium is usually propagated on wheat seeds.
Next, it’s a small matter: decide on the type of mushrooms, depending on your tastes, conditions in the basement or on the site, and the availability of substrate. Let's say you recently uprooted several old fruit trees, sawed them up, but there is no need for firewood. You can use saw cuts to grow honey mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. Or you have an underground floor that retains heat throughout the year. Then start getting commercial champignons. And if your dacha is adjacent to a forest and there are birch or spruce trees on the site, then start growing porcini mushrooms.
When growing mushrooms, you should understand that the mushrooms themselves are the fruiting bodies of the mycelium, which, like plant roots, entangles the entire thickness of the substrate and absorbs nutrients.
Only in conditions close to ideal does the mycelium grow quickly and enter the time of fruiting. And for each type of mushroom these conditions will be different. So, champignons do not need light, but they do require nutritious soil and its appropriate moisture. But you can’t grow a row in the dark. For porcini mushrooms, a necessary condition will be the presence of mature trees, with the roots of which its mycelium will establish an inextricable connection.
One of the best options for beginners would be to grow oyster mushrooms in ready-made bags with substrate and sown mycelium.
Oyster mushrooms on a white background
The bags are placed in a suitable place, cuts are made and sprayed so that the substrate is always moist, but not wet. Soon the mycelium becomes visible through the transparent polyethylene, which means that you are doing everything right. Within two weeks the first mushrooms will appear in the slots.
Tip: waste soil after growing mushrooms is an excellent fertilizer for garden and home plants. It can also be sent to a compost heap, which can become a landing site for many cultivated mushrooms.
For plantation champignons A cellar or basement is suitable, where you can maintain a temperature from 12 to 18˚ and a humidity of about 70%. The nutrient substrate is poured into flat boxes, which are then placed on shelves to save space. Champignons do not require light to develop: they grow well and bear fruit in the dark.
Since spring, champignons are also grown in open ground, for example in the shade of fruit trees. In this case, the plantings must be covered with a film, which will protect the mycelium from both drying out and waterlogging.
The best soil for growing champignons is horse manure. You can also use cow manure, adding about 20–30% straw, leaves, potato or tomato tops. Preparation of the substrate begins with laying a heap: 12–13 kg of gypsum, 12–13 kg of lime and 1.5 kg of urea are added to 50 kg of manure. The pile is watered, compacted and covered with film. Substrate preparation lasts 15–20 days.
Growing rows happens in much the same way as with champignons. However, this activity still requires some knowledge and is therefore more suitable for those who already have experience. The row forms a fruiting body when the outside temperature drops below 15˚. The best time to plant a crop is May, but in principle you can start growing it in the fall. In the garden it is grown in beds, in boxes or bags placed in the shade of trees and shrubs.
As when breeding champignons, after planting in the ground, the substrate is covered with film and provided with high humidity. Row mycelium develops best at a temperature of about 20˚. After 2–3 weeks, the substrate is overgrown with purple mycelium. Now apply moist soil in a 5 cm layer and cover the crop. Mixtures used for champignons are suitable. After 2–3 weeks, mycelium will appear on the soil surface. Approximately 3 weeks after covering at a temperature of 10 to 15˚, the first fruiting bodies (mushrooms) form, and the covering is removed. After about 3 months of cultivation, the substrate is depleted; it can be used to improve soil structure, especially clay or sandy soil.
Eastern favorite - mushroom shiitake– can grow on a wide variety of nutrient materials: straw, sawdust, sunflower husks.
For again choose freshly cut tree trunks, which are placed near the shady side of the house.
Armillaria mellea in natural habitat autumn season
Whatever you choose - champignons, shiitake, honey mushrooms or oyster mushrooms - the main thing is to follow the technology and show attention and patience to your plantings. Then your efforts will not remain without a well-deserved reward.
But to grow the so-called mycorrhiza-forming mushrooms, which include White mushroom, pretty hard.
To make it clear, mycorrhiza is a kind of community of mycelium and tree roots. And without this friendship, forest mushrooms cannot grow. The only way to “tame” them is to grow them near trees (birch, aspen, spruce or pine) growing on your acres adjacent to a forest or shelterbelt.
First, prepare the landing site. To do this, near the tree trunk you need to remove the top layer of earth (10–20 cm thick) with a shovel so as to obtain a bare area with a diameter of up to 2 m with a tree in the center.
- Then lay either compost or soil with a high peat content 1 to 2 cm thick on the bare area, and place pieces of porcini mushroom mycelium on top.
- If you couldn’t get the mycelium, there is another option: bring planting material from the forest.
- Select about 10–15 caps of the largest porcini mushrooms, place them in a bucket of water (rain is best) and leave them to soak for a day. After steeping, mash the mushrooms with your hands directly in the bucket. You should get a homogeneous mass. Now strain this solution through a sieve or finely pore cloth. Do not throw away any remaining pulp. She will also need to be planted. Thus, you received a solution with spores and the mushroom tissue itself.
- Pour the resulting solution onto the peat substrate, and then cover everything with the layer of soil that was removed at the very beginning.
- Using a watering can or hose with a sprayer, water the planting site. It is important not to erode the soil. One tree needs 2 to 3 buckets of water.
- And from above the planting is covered with a layer of straw of 20–40 cm.
- The first mushrooms will appear a year after the mycelium takes root.
- Porcini mushrooms in the country will delight you for up to 5 years.
But we don’t say goodbye to you here, come back again!
Mushroom season is over, and at the same time, the thought of creating a man-made mushroom plantation at home, in the basement or in a summer cottage probably comes to your mind, just like me. And from the idea to its implementation, as they say, is just a stone’s throw away! After all, depending on the type of mushrooms, everyone can create a mushroom farm with their own hands.
Today, it is not a problem in stores for summer residents and in specialized companies to purchase mycelium (that is, mycelium), which will be the grain that will make your dream come true. And often grain in the literal sense of the word. After all, mycelium is usually propagated on wheat seeds.
Next, it’s a small matter: decide on the type of mushrooms, depending on your tastes, conditions in the basement or on the site, and the availability of substrate. Let's say you recently uprooted several old fruit trees, sawed them up, but there is no need for firewood. You can use saw cuts to grow honey mushrooms or oyster mushrooms. Or you have an underground floor that retains heat throughout the year. Then start getting commercial champignons. And if your dacha is adjacent to a forest and there are birch or spruce trees on the site, then start growing porcini mushrooms.
When growing mushrooms, you should understand that the mushrooms themselves are the fruiting bodies of the mycelium, which, like plant roots, entangles the entire thickness of the substrate and absorbs nutrients.
Only in conditions close to ideal does the mycelium grow quickly and enter the time of fruiting. And for each type of mushroom these conditions will be different..
One of the best options for beginners would be to grow oyster mushrooms in ready-made bags with substrate and sown mycelium.
So, champignons do not need light, but they do require nutritious soil and its appropriate moisture. But you can’t grow a row in the dark. For porcini mushrooms, a necessary condition will be the presence of mature trees, with the roots of which its mycelium will establish an inextricable connection.
Tip: waste soil after growing mushrooms is an excellent fertilizer for garden and home plants. It can also be sent to a compost heap, which can become a landing site for many cultivated mushrooms.
For plantation champignons The bags are placed in a suitable place, cuts are made and sprayed so that the substrate is always moist, but not wet. Soon the mycelium becomes visible through the transparent polyethylene, which means that you are doing everything right. Within two weeks the first mushrooms will appear in the slots.
Since spring, champignons are also grown in open ground, for example in the shade of fruit trees. In this case, the plantings must be covered with a film, which will protect the mycelium from both drying out and waterlogging.
The best soil for growing champignons is horse manure. You can also use cow manure, adding about 20–30% straw, leaves, potato or tomato tops. Preparation of the substrate begins with laying a heap: 12–13 kg of gypsum, 12–13 kg of lime and 1.5 kg of urea are added to 50 kg of manure. The pile is watered, compacted and covered with film. Substrate preparation lasts 15–20 days.
Growing rows happens in much the same way as with champignons. However, this activity still requires some knowledge and is therefore more suitable for those who already have experience. The row forms a fruiting body when the outside temperature drops below 15˚. The best time to plant a crop is May, but in principle you can start growing it in the fall. In the garden it is grown in beds, in boxes or bags placed in the shade of trees and shrubs.
As when breeding champignons, after planting in the ground, the substrate is covered with film and provided with high humidity. Row mycelium develops best at a temperature of about 20˚. After 2–3 weeks, the substrate is overgrown with purple mycelium. Now apply moist soil in a 5 cm layer and cover the crop. Mixtures used for champignons are suitable. After 2–3 weeks, mycelium will appear on the soil surface. Approximately 3 weeks after covering at a temperature of 10 to 15˚, the first fruiting bodies (mushrooms) form, and the covering is removed. After about 3 months of cultivation, the substrate is depleted; it can be used to improve soil structure, especially clay or sandy soil.
Eastern favorite - mushroom shiitake– can grow on a wide variety of nutrient materials: straw, sawdust, sunflower husks.
For again choose freshly cut tree trunks, which are placed near the shady side of the house.
Whatever you choose - champignons, shiitake, honey mushrooms or oyster mushrooms - the main thing is to follow the technology and show attention and patience to your plantings. Then your efforts will not remain without a well-deserved reward.
But to grow the so-called mycorrhiza-forming mushrooms, which include White mushroom, pretty hard.
To make it clear, mycorrhiza is a kind of community of mycelium and tree roots. And without this friendship, forest mushrooms cannot grow. The only way to “tame” them is to grow them near trees (birch, aspen, spruce or pine) growing on your acres adjacent to a forest or shelterbelt.
First, prepare the landing site. To do this, near the tree trunk you need to remove the top layer of earth (10–20 cm thick) with a shovel so as to obtain a bare area with a diameter of up to 2 m with a tree in the center.
- Then lay either compost or soil with a high peat content 1 to 2 cm thick on the bare area, and place pieces of porcini mushroom mycelium on top.
- If you couldn’t get the mycelium, there is another option: bring planting material from the forest.
- Select about 10–15 caps of the largest porcini mushrooms, place them in a bucket of water (rain is best) and leave them to soak for a day. After steeping, mash the mushrooms with your hands directly in the bucket. You should get a homogeneous mass. Now strain this solution through a sieve or finely pore cloth. Do not throw away any remaining pulp. She will also need to be planted. Thus, you received a solution with spores and the mushroom tissue itself.
- A cellar or basement is suitable, where you can maintain a temperature from 12 to 18˚ and a humidity of about 70%. The nutrient substrate is poured into flat boxes, which are then placed on shelves to save space. Champignons do not require light to develop: they grow well and bear fruit in the dark.
- Pour the resulting solution onto the peat substrate, and then cover everything with the layer of soil that was removed at the very beginning.
- Using a watering can or hose with a sprayer, water the planting site. It is important not to erode the soil. One tree needs 2 to 3 buckets of water.
- And from above the planting is covered with a layer of straw of 20–40 cm.
- Porcini mushrooms in the country will delight you for up to 5 years.
The first mushrooms will appear a year after the mycelium takes root.
Many people are thinking about their own mushroom farm. Growing champignons at home for beginners is a responsible and labor-intensive task, but not difficult. It does not require large investments, especially if you plan to grow mushrooms for personal use and not as a business.
How to create a mini-farm for growing champignons at home
Champignons are the undisputed leaders in popularity because they have high taste and are easy to grow. Mushrooms need specific conditions for vegetation. Best fit cellar and basement. You can create the necessary conditions in the garage, shed and even on the balcony!
Premises requirements:
- Champignons are susceptible to various diseases, so the room should be as clean as possible, in which it is possible to carry out disinfection. Gender must be concrete. An earthen floor is not suitable!
- Champignons can develop in complete darkness. Therefore, lighting in the cellar is needed only for servicing the culture.
- The cellar must be good air ventilation. This is due to the fact that when compost decomposes, it releases a lot of carbon dioxide, which must be eliminated.
Indoors insects should not get in. Therefore, windows are equipped with mosquito nets, and ventilation pipes are covered with fine mesh to prevent access by insects.
In the cellar there should be no draft. If you plan to grow a large crop, you will have to install forced ventilation and install air purification filters. A minimum of 3 m³ of air is needed for every 1 m² of bed. Without these measures, there will be no harvest due to fungi being affected by diseases. - For culture there are strict air humidity conditions– 85-90%! To control the humidity in the basement, you need to hang a hygrometer. If the humidity is insufficient, carry out spraying the substrate from a spray bottle. If it is too high, the room must be ventilated.
- The hardest thing with temperature conditions. During each growing season, champignons need to be provided with different air and compost temperatures. For mycelium germination, in the first 2 weeks, an air temperature of 24–25 ºС and a compost temperature of 26–27 ºС are needed. If the substrate overheats, the room needs to be ventilated. After the fruiting bodies appear, the air temperature is reduced to 16–17 ºС.
Champignons are possible grow all year round, but for this the room must be heated. To reduce labor costs, the cellar is equipped with two rooms. One maintains a higher temperature for mycelium germination, and the other maintains a lower temperature. Boxes with mushrooms are transported there for fruiting.
Preparing the premises and growing crops
Before growing champignons, disinfection of the premises is mandatory. It is carried out in the following ways:
- Whitewashing walls and ceilings lime with copper sulfate.
- All surfaces spray with 4% formaldehyde solution.
- Chlorophos treatment mandatory against insects if vegetables and fruits were previously stored in the room.
- Fumigation sulfur bomb.
After treatment the room ventilate.
Mushroom seedlings are mycelium. The simplest growing technology:
| Buy a bag of ready-made mushroom compost. It is convenient when it is packed in thick cellophane. Make a rectangular hole at the top of the bag. |
| Place a layer of peat moss on top of the compost. Moisten the substrate with water from a spray bottle. After 12-14 hours, the mycelium threads from the compost begin to move to the top layer of peat. |
| This is the simplest option, when the mycelium is already in the compost, all that remains is to create optimal conditions for growing champignons. |
There is a more complicated way when compost is prepared independently. The basis of the substrate is horse straw manure. The concept of “straw” means that the animal should eat hay and straw rather than green grass.
There are many recipes for preparing a substrate for mushrooms, depending on their variety. What specific composition is needed can be found in the information provided when purchasing mycelium (on the label, packaging, etc.).
Typical substrate composition:
- Horse straw manure with humidity 40-45% - 850 kg.
- Superphosphate–13 kg.
- Gypsum-18 kg.
- Ammonia saltpeter– 8 kg.
- Urea– 3 kg.
Process compost maturation lasts 20-25 days.
If you cannot purchase straw manure, take regular manure and add straw to it. For 100 kg of manure you need 50 kg of chopped winter straw.
Substrate preparation process
The straw is soaked in warm water for a day. It is mixed with manure and left to ferment for 3-6 days. When the temperature of the mixture rises to 40–60 ºС, it is stirred (stirred). At the same time, superphosphate, gypsum, urea and ammonium nitrate are added, according to the recipe. Interruptions are carried out every 2–5 days, resulting in 4–6. After the last mixing, the substrate is allowed to warm up to 60 ºС. As a result of cooking, the sharp ammonia smell disappears from the finished compost. It is laid out in planting boxes. When the substrate has cooled to 24–25 ºС, mycelium is sown into it, embedded to a depth of 10 cm.
Any business is a type of income that almost all of us strive for. Nowadays, every person wants to be financially independent and earn a living from the activities that are of greatest interest. Otherwise, the work will seem like hard labor. In this connection, a business such as a mushroom farm can become a good income.
This can be supported by statistics according to which a third of the total population living in Russia prefers to feast on mushrooms. At the same time, some go out to search for them on their own, but most, to save time, visit markets or stores where the mushrooms have already been collected and all that remains is to pick them up, albeit for a certain amount. Moreover, the consumption of these products increases every year by 20-25%.
Reason for widespread demand
The increasing demand for mushrooms is due to several reasons. First of all, it is worth noting their low cost compared to seafood or meat products. As for the benefits, in terms of the content of nutrients beneficial to the human body, they are in no way inferior to the mentioned products.
Due to the large amount of protein and minerals (potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium and other substances) contained in products, you can understand how relevant a business such as a home mushroom farm is. Oyster mushroom, champignon, shiitake - all these mushrooms are simply a real warehouse for our body.
Typically, people digest dried mushrooms better than fresh ones. And due to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in the composition, salt deposition does not occur on the walls of blood vessels.
Advantages and disadvantages of doing business
What are the positive aspects of the mushroom business? First of all, this is a small amount of initial contributions, which does not happen with every business. Other significant advantages are:
- not seasonal;
- high percentage of profitability;
- constantly increasing demand in the Russian market;
- harvest can be harvested every week;
- one substrate can be used up to three times.
In addition, if you have a farm, you won’t have to spend a lot on renting premises.
Unfortunately, such activities also have their downsides. One of these is the complex sale of products to wholesale buyers. It is also not easy to maintain the necessary conditions for the proper development of mushrooms.
What is to be implemented?
Often those who are faced with the need to open their own business wonder what they can sell or what services they can provide. Considering in this case the example of a mushroom farm, we can distinguish several market segments in which products can be supplied in the following form:
- fresh:
- frozen;
- canned.
Sometimes the market may be supplemented with dried mushrooms. As noted by the general director of the “School of Mushroom Growing” institution, A.V. Khrenov, the Russian market is approximately 22% filled with fresh products; 28% comes from canned mushrooms. The remaining 50% is frozen food.
In favor of a business such as a mushroom farm, it is worth citing some interesting data obtained from a large supplier. Back in 2004, the domestic market was filled with 15 thousand tons of frozen mushrooms, and the total amount of useful product was 30 thousand tons. Although market experts give different figures - 60 thousand tons. And the most developed segment is represented by frozen mushrooms, the demand for which increases by 30% from year to year.
At the same time, the total volume of mushroom consumption for the entire 2003 amounted to almost 500 thousand tons, which is equivalent to each person consuming at least 3 kg of this product. For comparison, in the United States there were no more than 2.5 kg of mushrooms per capita. Thus, this gives rise to thinking about what exactly can be sold on the market.
Where to begin?
Any business activity, including a farm, is not complete without drawing up a competent business plan. Thanks to him, you can decide on the important stages that you need to go through. A plan for growing and further selling mushrooms may include several important steps, during which it is necessary:
- purchase seed material;
- prepare the substrate (raw materials);
- directly grow mushrooms;
- sell goods.
It is also necessary to resolve issues of choosing equipment, hiring personnel and taking into account a number of other equally important points. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and try to consider this type of business from all sides.
Legal side of the issue
Before you begin to take action, it is necessary to regulate the legal side of the business. Since mushrooms are food products, there are some issues that need to be cleared with the government before opening a mushroom farm. This business requires you to go through the procedure of registering your activities and providing data to the tax service. You can act as an individual entrepreneur, according to the OKVED code - A.01.12.31. After this, you need to choose a tax system. In this case, it will be enough to choose a single agricultural tax.
Next you need to visit several structures. First, you can go to the fire department to get a permit. Next, you need to confirm the quality of the product, for which you need to send a batch of mushrooms for analysis. If everything is in order, the laboratory issues a quality certificate with which you can start your business.
It is only necessary to draw up a number of documents, one of them is a license that gives the right to sell mushrooms. Another document is a phytosanitary certificate. It also doesn’t hurt to get instructions for storing and transporting products.
Selection of raw materials
An extremely important stage of the business is the selection of raw materials from which the mushrooms of the mushroom farm are grown. For this purpose, mycelium is used, or, as it is also called, mycelium. This basic seed material can usually be purchased at almost any mushroom farm. However, if you already have experience, you can grow it on your own.
When purchasing so-called licensed seed, first of all, you need to make sure of its quality. A good mycelium is white in color, emits a pleasant mushroom smell and is free of any stains. It would be a good idea to ask the seller if he has a license, which he must have.
The second necessary raw material is the substrate - it is on it that mushrooms grow. You can also make it yourself. To do this, the composition may include straw (wheat, rye, barley), flax kernels and corn stalks. To make the mushroom farm produce more harvest, you can add the following components:
- sawdust;
- shavings;
- tree bark;
- chaff and other household waste.
When making your own substrate, the main thing is to make sure that the raw materials used are environmentally friendly. Otherwise, you may suffer large crop losses, and the quality of the mushrooms will be poor due to the presence of various chemicals.
By purchasing ready-made substrate from different manufacturers, you can be sure that from 10 kg of raw materials you can grow up to 2 kg of mushrooms. Of course, subject to all necessary conditions for their cultivation. Just take into account that this amount of substrate is equal to the cost of 1 kg of mushrooms at the wholesale price.
Champignons and oyster mushrooms
Before starting your own business, you need to know its specifics. A mushroom farm is no exception; champignons have increased requirements for development conditions. For the substrate on which champignons will be grown, it is best to use wheat straw. It must first be thoroughly dried, crushed and soaked in water. Since straw absorbs it well, you should take the following proportion: 2.5 parts of liquid to 1 part of straw. After this, you need to add manure to the wet straw or leave the compost to mature. This usually takes two weeks, and special aerated containers are used to allow air access.
This compost is ideal for growing a rich harvest of champignons and oyster mushrooms. But due to the labor-intensive work of creating it, it is not used for the latter, since you can get by with a simpler option - a substrate.
Room
Finding and choosing suitable premises plays an important role for a business such as a mushroom farm; champignons require optimal conditions for development. Already experienced entrepreneurs in this business give preference to cultivation chambers in which the necessary microclimate conditions are maintained. Moreover, even the level of carbon dioxide can vary, depending on the stage of development of the fungi.
But novice businessmen can easily opt for a greenhouse, basement or barn. The selected room must be equipped with ventilation and heating systems. The temperature should be kept around 12-16, but not more than 25 degrees. It is extremely important to ensure a high level of humidity - up to 80 or 90%. For a small room it is not difficult to maintain; it is enough to irrigate bags of substrate. But if large-scale production is planned, then you cannot do without air conditioners and humidifiers.
Also, the construction of a mushroom farm requires the presence of electrical wiring and an uninterrupted water supply in the premises. You also need to take care to remove its excess.
Regarding dimensions, it is worth considering the scale of production. To begin with, you can choose a room with an area of 15 to 20 square meters. m. However, if you plan to expand production in the future, then you need to choose a more spacious room in advance. It can be purchased or rented. It all depends on the size of the initial investment. If you have enough money, then it is better to buy the premises outright, otherwise the rent remains.
In addition to the main working area, the room must provide space for storing and pasteurizing the substrate. For this purpose, it is better to make separate rooms for convenience.
Equipment
The issue of arranging the premises directly depends on what kind of crop the mushroom farm will grow. In this regard, oyster mushrooms are unpretentious mushrooms, and champignons require certain conditions. As for technical equipment, the list must include the following equipment:
- refrigeration chamber;
- humidifiers;
- heaters;
- steam generators.
When growing oyster mushrooms, you will also need bags where they will grow. To collect mushrooms, you can use wooden or plastic boxes. Purchased raw materials, especially straw, must undergo heat treatment. For this purpose, steam generators are purchased in which the pasteurization procedure takes place. If there is little natural light in the room, then you should take care of purchasing fluorescent lamps.
Hiring
It is worth noting that mushroom farms in Russia require staff, since one entrepreneur cannot cope with such a business, no matter how hard he tries. Therefore, in order for the business to prosper and to avoid losses, it is necessary to think about hiring workers.
There are no special requirements for future personnel, since the basics of mushroom science are not taught in our country. The only mandatory condition when hiring employees is that they have a health certificate. As in any other job, candidates are encouraged to have no bad habits, be conscientious, and honest. If you wish, you can attract a specialist in this field, but his salary will be higher than usual. As an option, offer a percentage of the sale of mushrooms.
How many people will work on the farm directly depends on the volume of products grown. If the planned volume involves growing up to 50-100 kg of mushrooms per day, then two people will do an excellent job. If the volume is larger - 200-300 kg daily, then the staff needs to be increased to 3 or 4 people.
But these people will work directly with mushrooms. Therefore, it is recommended to hire two workers or one person to prepare the substrate. Another one will deal with sales issues. If an entrepreneur does not understand anything about financial matters, then he should hire an accountant.
Sales of goods
When developing a business plan, it is important to include a mushroom sales point. The main consumers can be found among:
- supermarkets;
- markets;
- wholesale buyers;
- shops;
- restaurants and canteens.
From the point of view of optimal sales, wholesale buyers are of greatest interest. This allows you to sell large quantities of products, which has a positive effect on profit growth.
But it is worth considering that the wholesale cost is lower than the market price of mushrooms. But, at the same time, the risk of damage to the goods is significantly reduced. And in order to slightly reduce the costs of transporting mushrooms, production facilities should be located in close proximity to the city.
Profitability calculation
The financial part of the plan, which includes expenses and probable income, must also be provided for. Costs will include the following items:
- Rent - from 12 to 13 thousand rubles/month.
- The cost of raw materials is approximately 80 thousand rubles.
- The workers' salary is 35 thousand rubles/month.
- Utility bills - from 9 to 10 thousand rubles.
- Transportation of raw materials and finished products - from 16 to 17 thousand rubles.
The planned profit, if you subtract the equipment of the mushroom farm and the listed expenses, will be 300 thousand rubles. per month. If we take into account one-time fees for opening an enterprise, the payback of the business will take six months.
Many people have asked the question: “How to make money on mushrooms?” Today, growing mushrooms as a business is a very attractive idea for both small and medium-sized enterprises! The production of champignons as a business does not require large capital investments, the demand for the product is growing steadily and there is no need to be afraid of competition.
Today, mushrooms are among the year-round popular products. Preparing both delicious homemade dishes and exquisite culinary works from chefs of restaurants of any level is indispensable without them. The taste and beneficial qualities of champignon mushrooms encourage consumers to pay money for them and buy them regularly.
Organizing a mushroom farm has the following advantages:
- there is no need for large start-up capital;
- there is a high and stable demand with a growing trend;
- mushrooms are equally well bought throughout the year;
- mushrooms can be harvested every week;
- simple requirements for the organization of the premises and compliance with growing technology;
- low fixed and variable costs, etc.
Instructions on how to open and what you need to do it
Future entrepreneurs face questions such as “Where to start a new business?” and “How to start?” Let's take a closer look at the key points in the process of preparing a business project.
Stage 1 – registration and preparation of documents
A mushroom growing business begins with registering a company with the Tax Inspectorate at your place of residence as an individual entrepreneur. Mushroom cultivation is classified as agricultural production and is subject to a single agricultural tax. It is six percent of net profit.
Stage 2 – search for premises
Of particular importance in organizing a new business is the issue of selecting premises for growing mushrooms. It must meet the following key requirements:
- Availability of necessary communications (electricity, water, sewerage, gas, etc.)
- Availability of good access roads.
- Proximity to a potential sales market.
- The area of the premises must correspond to the expected production volumes (taking into account its growth in the future), etc.
Experienced mushroom pickers organize the full cycle of growing champignons. In this case, it is necessary to provide a room for preparing compost and its pasteurization, a room for growing mycelium and mushrooms. A novice entrepreneur usually buys ready-made compost and mycelium. In this case, they will need a room for storing compost and mycelium, as well as growing mushrooms.
Stage 3 – purchase and installation of necessary equipment
Required equipment for the premises include:
- heating appliances;
- irrigation system;
- fresh air supply system;
- fog spray equipment;
- tractor or truck;
- feed crusher for processing straw (in case of own compost production);
- grain crusher for grinding manure (in case of own compost production).
Photo gallery “Equipment for a mushroom farm”
Stage 4 – selection of employees
The mushroom growing business involves hiring personnel to carry out the main stages of the production process. Its quantity directly depends on the expected scale of production and operating mode of the mushroom farm. For example, if you plan to collect about 50 - 100 kg of champignon mushrooms daily, then you will only need two workers. In addition, you will need to hire several more employees to prepare the substrate, sell finished products, etc. For small production volumes, it is beneficial to outsource accounting.
The key requirement for employees is to have a medical record. You should look for a competent specialist among graduates of agricultural or biological faculties.
Stage 5 – promotion and advertising
The mushroom business involves the following promotion and advertising tools:
- development of your own website;
- advertisements on the Internet and local newspapers;
- direct contacts with potential wholesale buyers, etc.
Financial plan
Approximate calculation (per month) for a micro enterprise with a staff of 5 people includes the following:
- premises rental – 30,000 rubles;
- staff salary – 60,000 rubles;
- purchase of raw materials (compost, mycelium, bioadditives) – 100,000 rubles;
- transportation costs – 20,000 rubles;
- advertising – 20,000 rubles;
- utility bills – 15,000 rubles.
Mushroom production can bring in about 300,000 rubles in profit per month (net of taxes). The mushroom business, taking into account one-time investment costs, pays off in about six months from the start of production.
Possible risks
The mushroom business is mainly affected by risks such as:
- low quality of raw materials;
- violation of production and transportation technology;
- dishonesty of customers and employees.
Video “Mushroom farm is a profitable business”
From this video you will learn how to really make money growing mushrooms.
