How to start a Mushroom business

We talked with Mrs. Phoutdavanh Sengkhamyong, the business owner and grows mushrooms during her spare time.

Q1.How did you get the idea to start growing mushrooms for business?

I have a full-time work as a business owner and I was looking for an additional agriculture-related side business that I could have at home. The usual high yielding income opportunities, like raising livestock, were not an option because I live in the city.
One day I came across a Thai youtube video about mushroom farming. It caught my interest because it sounded like an easy way to make money. Easy in the sense that you don’t have to spend many hours on it every day.
From the business strategy point of view, mushroom farming also seemed like a good fit, because my house is close to a market. That means my customers can get fresh mushrooms daily and I don’t have to pay to transport the mushrooms.

Q2.What is mushroom farming like on a day-to-day basis? 

I grow oyster and white log mushrooms. Once a day I check that the watering and climate control systems are working and twice a day, usually in the mornings and evenings, I pick the mushrooms that are ready for harvesting. If you don’t have an automated watering system, then you also need to water the mushrooms daily.

Q3. What does one need to do to start a mushroom business?

First, you have to learn what kind of environment different mushrooms require. Some require warmer temperatures while others thrive in cooler ones. Then you need to decide what type of mushrooms are the best for your situation.
Second, it’s important that you have a market strategy and investigate the demand in your area so that you can meet demand, but also make sure that you don’t lose money by growing more than there is demand for. 
Third, you need to decide whether you want to grow mushrooms from scratch or buy pre-filled mushroom grow bags on Facebook. I prefer to buy them.

Q4. How much does it typically cost to get started? 

Mushroom bags from the producer cost about 2500 Kip/bag. I bought 1000 bags for 2.5 million Kip.  It’s a good idea to use whatever you already have at your house rather than to buy many things. I used shelves that I already had. Just make sure the mushroom shelves can carry the weight of the mushroom bags. For the watering and climate control system should cost around 900.000 LAK from online shop in Thailand.

Q5. How much income do you earn from this activity?

Say you cultivate 3000 bags, after 7 days from opening the bags, you can start collecting about 10 kg per day. The mushrooms sell for 18,000 -25,000 Kip/kg depending on the season, we will earn about 6 million kip/month. The bags will continue to produce mushrooms for about 4-6 months, after which you need to buy new bags.

Q6. What are the biggest challenges of mushroom farming?

You have to know what kind of climate different types of mushroom require and you need to learn how to control humidity and temperature. This can take a bit of time to get right.
Another thing that can go wrong is that if you don’t open the bags correctly, water can collect inside the bags and the contents will rot. You also need to keep an eye out for pests. I spray the bags with a mixture of heart-leaf moonseeds and EM fertilizer when needed. 

Q7. What’s the best thing about mushroom farming?

It’s suitable for people who can’t spare a lot of time for their side business. Especially if you invest in a watering system, the only thing you need to do is to collect mushrooms twice a day.