Mushrooms

Fungi and Agriculture

Mission Statement:

The potential positive impact of fungi in the soil to combat soil erosion and promote healthy soil; specifically on a local scale like the SAP farm.

Mushrooms in Sustainable Agriculture

Global

The growth of fungi worldwide can aid in carbon sequestering. Furthermore, mushrooms are an additional food source. Mushroom cultivation contributes to nutritional bioavailability while also promoting the degradation of pollutants and formation of soil aggregates. Along with this a portion of agricultural waste can be converted into high-quality food and nutraceutical sources. The remaining organic matter improves soil quality via fungal mycelial networks and the re-use of used mushroom substrates.

National

The U.S. is facing major topsoil loss and erosion. Farmers can implement fungi in order to put nutrients back into soil as well as help reduce the input of chemical fertilizers in soil. In the US regenerative farming practices that avoid tillage and keep the ground covered have been shown to help the soil recover. If the soil biology is specifically attended to by adding microbes including fungi back in, they will multiply within just a few short years. When they are back in force enough to do their job, the changes that can occur are remarkable.

Local

The SAP does not have currently have fungi but there is an opportunity to implement mushrooms. They could be used in the compost pile to aid in breaking down material. With this the conventional farm next to the SAP is suffering from poor soil so fungi here could aid in returning nutrients and creating healthy soil.

Basic components of fungi:

- Fruiting body- mushroom
  - - Reproductive structure that creates spores
- Mycelium- root system (collective body)
  - Hyphae- individual strands of cells that make up fungus body

Detritivores

Fungi that decompose organic matter for nutrients
Helps cycle nutrients into and out of the soil

Mycorrhiza Fungi

Creates a symbiotic relationship with plants to sustain itself
Increases volume of plants' root systems allowing for easier nutrient location and communication between plants

Soil Health & Erosion

With years of conventional farming, soil in the U.S. has been depleted of its nutrients and has been subject to erosion. This phenomenon can also be seen around the globe.

Soil erosion is the loss of productive topsoil due to the elements
Soil erosion costs the US $67 billion per year

Impacts of soil erosion

Reduced soil and nutrients retention
Lower subsoil layer is exposed to elements
Increased runoff and chemical pollution
loss of newly planted crops

Soil Erosion in Queensland Australia

Practicing conventional farming since 1850s
3 million hectares or 2% of land area is used for agriculture
80% of farmable land is susceptible to soil erosion
Agricultural regions like Darling Downs loses 20 - 60 tonnes of topsoil per hectare per year
Tropical areas lose up to 400 tonnes per hectare per year

The Future of American Soil

Every year, US crop lands lose at least twice as much soil to erosion as the Great Plains were estimated to have lost annually during the peak of the Dust Bowl
With current farming methods, US crop lands are estimated to lose an additional 28 billion tons of soil by 2035
148 billion tons are projected to be lost by 2100
This constitutes about 300 years worth of soil produced by natural processes

How Fungi Can Help

Root System

The mycorrhiza of fungi can extend to root system of plants. Mycorrhiza reach further to areas where plants cannot. This forms a relationship of nutrient sharing (Guardian).

Biodiversity

Adding fungi to soil increases biodiversity and helps to create resilience in systems.

Carbon

Fungi root systems act as a carbon sink by breaking down material and brining carbon into the soil (Guardian).

Soil Structure

Mycorrhiza hold the soil together and it aids in retaining water.

Reduction of Pollutants

Mushroom mycelia removes and breaks down contaminants and will eventually absorb the polluntants, through the biosorption process.

Mushrooms as Decomposers

Mushrooms works to decompose organic matter in nature to release nutrients for the plants and other organisms in the soil.

Compost

Having mushrooms present in compost helps speed up the rate of decomposition reducing the time needed before using the material.

Triple Bottom Line

Environmental
- - helps pollinators (eat mycellia for protection against disease)
  - filters pollutants & helps plants get nutrients

Social
- - educational opportunity to teach students about fungi and their benefits

Economic
- - reduces amount need to spend supplementing their soil & on water
  - mushroom production can create an additional form of income for the SAP

Implementation Plan

Mushrooms at the SAP

The soil at the SAP is healthy due to years are sustainable agriculture, but the land surrounding is not. The conventional farm land can benefit from growing fungi to increase the nutrients within the soil.

Implementation

Mushrooms can be grown with woodchips on the SAP. The woodchips can also be added to the compost pile to dispose of it. This would create mushroom growth and speed up the process of breaking down the material in the compost.

Budget

Woodchips- $70 per yard

Fungi- $0.45 per thousand spores

Labor hours- work can to be done with volunteers and interns

References

David Sewak, & Kristin Sewak. (2016). Mycelial Mayhem : Growing Mushrooms for Fun, Profit and Companion Planting. New Society Publishers, , 2016. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.gvsu.edu/login.aspxdirect=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=e700xna&AN=1233098&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Guardian News and Media. (n.d.). A new era of agriculture: How soil – and mushrooms – can help solve the climate crisis. The Guardian. Retrieved November 10, 2022, fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/climate-academy/ng-interactive/2020/nov/16/regenerative-agriculture-soil-and-mushrooms-help-solve-climate-crisis
Schatz, A. (2022, January 19). Part 1: How fungi benefits soil. Central Texas Mycological Society. Retrieved November 10, 2022, from https://www.centraltexasmycology.org/blog/2021/1/24/ccpmw7gxckgodbbsfb5n7g5uonhclj
Širić, I., Eid, E. M., Taher, M. A., et al. (2022). Combined Use of Spent Mushroom Substrate Biochar and PGPR Improves Growth, Yield, and Biochemical Response of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis): A Preliminary Study on Greenhouse Cultivation. Horticulturae, 8(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8090830
The White House | whitehouse.gov - national archives and records ... (2016). Retrieved November 10, 2022, from