Prices are under pressure so most growers are paying particular attention to the harvesting performance.
Pickers are working faster and – on condition the quality remains good – this will lower the cost price. However, don’t forget to leave cleared beds behind after harvesting. On farms we are increasing seeing broken stalks stumps and mushrooms left on the beds. The idea is to remove all this waste at the end of the flush, but then the damage will have already been done.
There are still numerous flies around and the weather is perfect for other moulds damaging to the yield such as cobweb disease. This mould grows rapidly on the waste left on the beds and greenish mould will also use this material as a nutrient medium. To emphasise the importance of leaving beds clear after harvesting, pickers should be told the background reasons. The person supervising harvesting should ensure pickers follow the instructions.
Henk van Gerwen, AdVisie ‘The mushroom cultivation advisors’
