Food & Agribusiness Management (FABM) 2(2) (2021) 85-87 Quick Response Code Access this article online Website: www.fabm.org.my DOI: 10.26480/fabm.02.2021.85.87 Cite the Article: Rabindra Bhandari, Riyana Dhungana, Prakash Neupane (2021). Benefit-Cost Ratio Analysis of Pleurotus Mushroom Cultivation Using Different Substrates in Campus of Live Sciences, Dang, Nepal. Food & Agribusiness Management, 2(2): 85-87. ISSN: 2716-6678 (Online) CODEN: FAMOCP RESEARCH ARTICLE Food & Agribusiness Management (FABM) DOI: http://doi.org/10.26480/fabm.02.2021.85.87 BENEFIT-COST RATIO ANALYSIS OF PLEUROTUS MUSHROOM CULTIVATION USING DIFFERENT SUBSTRATES IN CAMPUS OF LIVE SCIENCES, DANG, NEPAL Rabindra Bhandari a* , Riyana Dhungana b , Prakash Neupane c a Department of Plant Pathology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal b Department of Plant Breeding, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal c Department of Agronomy, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal *Corresponding author e-mail: rabinbhandari262@gmail.com This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History: Received 18 Febraury 2021 Accepted 21 March 2021 Available online 16 April 2021 In order to determine the benefit cost ratio analysis of Pleurotus ostreatus mushroom cultivation using different substrates an experiment was conducted in the field of Campus of Live Sciences, Tulsipur, Dang. Different substrates such as straw, khar, banana leaves and tree leaves were used for mushroom cultivation. On 30 th day, the mycelium completely colonized the different substrate and reached pinhead stage of mushroom. After one week of mycelium colonization first harvesting was done and yield of 755gm,130gm,211gm and 300gm were obtained on rice straw,banana leaves,tree leaves and khar respectively. Then,second harvesting was carried out on 44 th day and yield of 475gm,100gm,0gm and 180gm were obtained on rice straw, banana leaves, tree leaves and khar respectively. Total yield of 1230gm, 230gm, 211gm and 480gm were found on straw, banana leaves, tree leaves and khar respectively. Cost of cultivation under different substrates was almost similar and by anlaysing benefit obtained from mushroom cultivation under different substrates, benefit cost ratio was analysed and found to be 2.47,0.46,0.42 and 0.96 under straw,banana leaves, tree leaves and khar respectively. From this research it is clarified that it is benefical to grow Pleurotus mushroom using rice straw substrate as the benefit cost ratio is higher when rice straw was used as substrate than in any other substrates. KEYWORDS Pleurotus sajor-caju, cultivation, temperature, substrates. 1. INTRODUCTION Pleurotus mushroom commonly referred as ‘Kanya chyau’ in Nepal, is a basidiomycetes and belongs to the genus ‘Pleurotus’. The fruit bodies of this mushroom are distinctly shell, fan or spatula shaped with different shades of white, cream, grey, yellow, pink or light brown depending upon the species. However, the colour of the sporophores is extremely variable character influenced by the temperature, light intensity and nutrients present in the substrate. This mushroom is cultivated in about 25 countries of far-east Asia, Europe and America. It is the 3rd largest cultivated mushroom in the world. China alone contributes 88% of the total world production. The other major oyster producing countries are South Korea, Japan, Italy, Taiwan, Thailand and Philippines. Oyster mushroom production is a most appropriate technology for the poor landless farmers and women farmers in Nepal. The farmers of many districts of Nepal have grown oyster mushrooms in a small scale and have benefited highly. They are mainly utilizing the agricultural waste of wheat and paddy straw, and thus mushroom cultivation has improved the living conditions of many poor farmers in Nepal. Among all the species of Pleurotus, P. sajor caju is most popular and widely practiced in commercial level. Temperature requirement of Pleurotus is higher than Agaricus and lower than that of the Volvorella, it is gaining more popularity in different ecological zones. In India, paddy and wheat straw were used for commercial production of oyster mushroom (Jain and Vyas, 2002). Paddy straw proved to be best substrate for cultivation of oyster mushroom (Bano and Shrivastava, 1962; Bonatti et al., 2004). The fungi used for conversion of lingo-cellulosic materials into protein rich food by non- conventional method. Different types of cellulosic substrates were used for cultivation of oyster mushroom. Next to paddy straw, wheat straw proved to be best substrate for cultivation of Pleurotus species (Bhatti et al., 1987; Thampi et al., 1966; Bonatti et al., 2004). 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Mushrooms were first cultivated in France in 1650.The method of cultivation of temperate mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) was first developed by a French Gardener in A.D.1700. In the east mushroom began to be grown on commercial scale in the People’s Republic of China, South