This small farm is starting to mushroom
Unemployed agriculture graduates are starting their own business
MUSHROOM farming is a growing trend among young farmers in Mpumalanga township near Hammarsdale. A group of four agriculture graduates, who could not find employment, decided to start cultivating oyster mushrooms in a vacant classroom at Elangeni Coastal College, where they had studied, last year.
Nonkululeko Mkhize, Thembinkosi Mzwazwa, Mbalenhle Mpanza and Siyabonga Ngema approached the college to ask for a space for farming with the help of the Department of Agriculture, which offered them support under the mentorship of Philile Ntuli.
The group said they supplied their produce to local markets, including the taxi rank in the township. But they were still looking to market their produce to big retail companies, including a major supermarket in the area.
Mzwazwa was brought up on a farm, where his parents specialised in growing sugar beans and corn, but he opted to grow the exotic mushroom.
“We decided that we needed to come up with a new trend in farming. With the help of our mentor and after intensive research on the internet, we started this project,” said Mzwazwa.
Mkhize added that a healthy diet was the reason she got involved in growing mushrooms.
“I love mushrooms, but we could not afford them at home. I also could not harvest the natural ones in the forest. I decided to grow them myself so I could be certain they are (edible),” Mkhize said.
The group also has a pig farm below the area where they grow mushrooms.
However, their produce was poor this season after viruses coming from the pigsty below contaminated their crops.
“It all became a waste, but we are still learning. We know that for our next crop, we should relocate the pigs. Tests run by the Department of Agriculture have proved that the virus was the cause of the poor harvest,” said Ngema.
The group said they wanted to achieve a lot in farming, but had no resources to take their business forward.
“We look forward to expanding this business and also getting involved in other varieties of exotic gourmet mushrooms, but that is in the pipeline for next year. There is so much that we want to achieve in this field. Not many people understand the hard work and long hours (that go into getting) a good harvest,” Mzwazwa said.
But with the lack of resources, their dream of becoming a major player could be affected.
The temperature in the group’s workspace isn’t suitable for their crops, and unfortunately they don’t have a proper cold room for storage.
“The devices are expensive and help to regulate heat and humidity for the successful growth of oyster mushrooms. The technology also helps to control the amount of water needed for the project,” said Mkhize.
The group used agricultural waste or by-products as a substrate. This included straw, which was inoculated with the mycelium (the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus-like bacterial colony) and left to spawn.