Design and Evaluation of Rice Straw Bag Filling Machine for Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus Florida) Cultivation

Abstract

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus florida) is a simple, fast, and cost-effective variety for cultivation, requiring minimal substrate preparation time and production technology when compared to other edible mushrooms. Its popularity has soared due to its exceptional culinary taste and flavor, surpassing even the well-known button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus). As a result, it has become highly recognized and preferred over button mushrooms in India. However, the current manual bag filling process of wet chopped rice straw substrate for Pleurotus florida cultivation is laborious and time-consuming, with limited bagging capacity. To address this challenge, a rice straw bag filling machine was designed and developed specifically for oyster mushroom cultivation. This machine comprises a main frame, truncated conical hopper, agitator, single flight tapered end screw conveyor, tubular trough, cylindrical drum, chain and sprocket drive mechanism, and an electric motor. The successful evaluation of this machine revealed that, the maximum bagging capacity of 293 bags/h was found at screw speed of 150 rpm and 200 mm pitch length for rice straw substrate.