Abstract:
Mushroom production could be used in protecting of the environment from different
pollutants. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipses) is one of the world‟s worst invasive
weeds that caused a serious problem in different aquatic environment including Lake
Tana. Many countries have prevented the impact of this invasive weed via variety
mechanisms such as physical removal method, chemical and biological method (Julien et
al., 2001). Among biological method one means is protected it via using of it as a
substrate for mushroom cultivation with obtaining of nutritional rich food such as
mushroom (Olal et al., 2001). This option was not yet tried in Ethiopia. Therefore the
objective of this study was to evaluate the use of water hyacinth biomass and its
combination with, wheat (Triticum aestivum) and teff (Eragrostis tef) straw at different
mixing ratio for the cultivation of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus).The experiment
was set up in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The spawn of Pleurotus
ostreatus was obtained from Addis Ababa city. Water hyacinth was collected from Lake
Tana and the straws (teff and wheat) were collected from local farmers in different rural
parts of Bahir Dar. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 with one- way analysis
of variance (ANOVA) including Tukey test at (P≤0.05) and the data were presented with
tables. The results of this study revealed that, the type of substrate significantly affected
the time required for mycelium invasion, pinhead formation, first harvest starting, cap
diameter, as well as stalk length, total yield and biological efficiency of Pleurotus
ostreatus (P≤0.05). The shortest day that took for mycelium colonization and pinhead
formation were recorded from wheat and teff straw respectively. The highest yield and
biological efficiency were recorded from 100% wheat straw, while the lowest were
observed from 100% teff straw. Using water hyacinth can be recommended as a substrate
rather than wheat straw due to its dual purpose.
Keyword: Biological efficiency, Lake Tana, oyster mushroom, water hyacinth