Kenyan farmers are buying enough mushroom spawn to meet the country’s accelerating button mushroom demand, but only getting half the expected yield, driving demand for mushroom production courses.
According to the country’s main button mushroom spawn-producing centre, the Mushroom Growing Resources Centre at JKUAT, it, alone, sells 350 litres of mushroom spawn every month, which ought to produce 35 tonnes of mushrooms, though farmers get only 15 tonnes in total. This output is the total from the JKUAT spawn and from all other spawn suppliers too.
Button mushrooms make up 90 per cent of Kenya’s overall mushroom consumption growing from 250 kilograms a month in the 1960s to 60 tons in 2024. However, only 43 tons of this is produced locally with 17 tons imported from Rwanda.
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“Though we sell spawn to about 250 mushroom farmers every month, we only have 50 farmers who are consistent buyers. This is because despite button mushrooms’ lucrative returns, many farmers lack the skill to consistently produce enough quantities from the spawn they buy and give it up,” said Patrick Kanyi, senior technician at the Mushroom Growing Resources Centre.
Requiring a three week compost preparation process as well as maintaining exact temperature and humidity levels inside the growhouse, buttons are the most difficult mushroom varieties to grow.
This has driven farmers to seek out this extensive knowledge and practical training on mushroom farming from spawn suppliers.
JKUAT’s Mushroom Growing Resources Centre as an example holds a three day on site training program every month.
The training covers selection of mushroom spawn, a deep dive into the best mushroom production technologies, picking the right growing structures, controlling the climate inside your growhouse, analysing mushroom farming gross margins, pests and diseases, packaging, preservation, marketing, post harvest handling and quality control of fresh mushroom.
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For the remainder of the year, the courses will take place on July 23-25, August 27-29, September 24-26, October 29-30, November 26-28, and December 03-05 from 9 am to 5 pm at JKUAT’s Juja Campus at a cost Sh10,000 per participant for Kenyan citizens. The centre also offers weekend training on request.
“Through these courses, we hope to see our farmers improve their production to meet internal demand and share in the lucrative returns from this lucrative vegetable fungi,” Kanyi said.
Patrick Kanyi Muchiri- 0721167244/0724256696