INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT IN MUSHROOM PRODUCTION Stephen Jess* & Mairead Kilpatrick† The Northern Ireland mushroom industry, comprising approximately 300 growers, annually produces more than 20,000 tonnes of mushrooms, with a market value in excess of £27M. Annual expenditure on insecticide application by the industry is estimated to be £0.9M. Presently, insect pest control is limited to the routine application of insecticides at different cultivation stages, supplemented with fumigant treatments directed at adults.
A new fly pest in mushrooms? Jane Smith HRI and Aneeta Gupta MicroBio Ltd During the course of our work with mushroom flies last year, we received several sticky traps from farms that contained an additional specimen to the usual assortment of sciarids and phorids. We identified this as the sphaerocerid fly, more commonly known as the ‘dung fly’.
Investigation of the Italian Mushroom Industry By Stuart Whitehall, IPP Limited. Recently IPP Limited organised a visit for Irish composters to visit the mushroom industry in Italy. The visit proved to be very successful and gave many people some fresh ideas and innovations to help the Irish mushroom Industry.
Beware Cobweb! David Seaby MOST growers know cobweb only too well. Its rapid, white, dusty to spiderweb like growth across the surface of casing, enveloping and rotting mushrooms of any size it comes across in a mass of mycelium, means this is a fungus that can not be ignored.
Exceptional Performance from Sylvan 737 Brendan Burns Dettie and John McBride, Swans Cross, Monaghan, have been growing mushrooms for 4 years on a five house operation. They began growing on bags but last year they changed to growing on blocks on the floor, with single staging along the walls.
