Cost and return on investment of cultivation of Jaw's Ear Muahroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indean Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom for commercial purposes
Abstract:
Mushroom is one of the important crops. At first, mushroom was collected from their natural growing habitats, but with the passing of time numerous attempts have been made to establish practical cultivation techniques. Accordingly many kinds of mushrooms can be cultivated for consumption, and now, because of technical advances, cultivation of various kinds of mushrooms:- Jew's Ear Mushroom, Straw Mushroom, The Black Forest Mushroom, Abalone Mushroom and Oyster Mushroom, has been expanded to commercial purpose. In Thailand, cultivation of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom is adopted widely and this is why the author realizes the importance of the study of cultivation condition, the cost and return on investment of cultivation of these mushrooms. The result of the study can be used as basis data for investors in making decision as well as indication for the government in providing support, promotion or help to solve problems which will make mushroom cultivation in Thailand more progressive in the near future. This study was carried out with the cooperation of the officers of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperative. Data were collected from Bangkok and some other provinces in the neighborhood:- Samutsakorn, Samutprakarn and Nakornpatom. Commercial mushroom growers were interviewed and related documents and reports were studied as well. Summary of the findings are as follows:- 1. In the case of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom production of spawn in grain, size 1,000 bottles/flush/kind of mushroom, product 12 flushes/year, initial investment was 26,800 Bahts, cost of production was 2.24 Bahts per bottle. In the case of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom inoculation, size 1,000 bags/flush/kind of mushroom, product 15 flushes/year, initial investment was 36,800 Bahts, cost of production per bag of Jew's Ear Mushroom was baht 1.65, Oyster Mushroom was baht 1.53, Indian Oyster Mushroom was baht 1.53 and Abalone Mushroom was baht 1.56. In the case of purchasing inoculation bags of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom for cultivation, size 1,00,0 bags/flush/kind of mushroom, Jew's Ear Mushroom's production 6 flushes/year, Oyster Mushroom's production 7 flushes/year, Indian Oyster Mushroom's production 5 flushes/year and Abalone Mushroom's production 4 flushes/year, cost of production/Kg. of Jew's Ear Mushroom was baht 10.84, Oyster Mushroom was baht 11.19, Indian Oyster Mushroom was baht 12.32 and Abalone Mushroom was baht 17.59. 2. The result from the analysis revealed that the return on investment of cultivation of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom for commercial purposes was satisfactory. The Rate of Return on Sales, Rate of Return on Investment and Payback Period were as follows: Production of Spawn Rate of Return on Sales 12% Rate of Return on Investment 81.68% Payback Period 1 yr. 3 mos. Mushroom's Inoculation Rate of Return on Sale 10.47%. Rate of Return on Investment 46.48%. Payback Period 2 yrs 2 mos. Mushroom's Cultivation Rate of Return on Sales 14.68%. Rate of Return on Investment 80.06%. Payback Period 1 yr. 3 mos. 3. Investment in production of spawn and mushroom's cultivation are more interesting, financially, for investors than inoculation, because of better Rate of Return on Sales, Rate of Return on Investment and Payback Period, but production of spawn has a lot of limitation concerning production and selling condition, so the best activity to invest in is mushroom's cultivation. However, the producers of Jew's Ear Mushroom, Oyster Mushroom, Indian Oyster Mushroom and Abalone Mushroom for commercial purposes' still have to face many obstacles and problems on production, marketing, competition, scarcity of source of fund, lack of coordination among the government agencies responsible for aiding mushroom growers and insufficient solidification of groups of producers. The recommendations are thus put forward for the government and related agencies to help promote and disseminate technical knowledge on production to mushroom growers, assist in locating markets, providing sufficient supply of sources of fund as well as sincere encouragement in all respects.