Effects of simple aeration on primary fermentation of Agaricus bisporus compost

ObjectiveIn order to provide technological basis for simple cultivation of Agaricus bisporus,the effects of simple aeration on the primary fermentation of A. bisporus compost were studied.MethodA experiment on the prima-ry fermentation of A. bisporus compost was conducted,the compost stacks were ventilated using a simple blower,with the traditional compost stack without ventilation as control(CK). The physicochemical characteristics,such as color,smell, tensile strength,pH,conductivity(EC),C/N and moisture of the compost,were monitored during the fermentation. The yield of A. bisporus was also counted.ResultBoth the compost fermenting for 16 d with simple aeration and three turns and the compost fermenting for 20 d with four turns but no aeration(CK)basically achieved the similar effects. The two composts had similar physicochemical properties as following:color of light or dark brown ,middle density smell of ammonia,tensile strength of 0.42-0.76 kg,moisture 67.0%-71.2%,pH 7.3-7.5,EC 3.62-4.22 μs/cm and C/N 23.1-26.1. In the cultivation of A. bisporus,the compost in the simple aeration treatment with three turns gave a fruit body yield of 8.7 kg/m2,slightly higher than that of the CK(8.0 kg/m2). While the compost with four turns gave a yield of 9.6 kg/m2, significantly higher that of CK(P<0.05).ConclusionSimple aeration is beneficial for promoting the fermentation of A. bisporus compost,reducing the turning times,simplifying the fermentation procedure,improving the quality of compost in the primary fermentation ,and increasing the yield. Therefore ,it can be applied in the small-scale cultivation of A. bisporus.