ABSTRACT
23The success of mushroom culture is dependent upon many interacting factors and it is not unusual for crops to achieve less than the maximum yield. In addition, some of the mushrooms from each crop are less than perfect in shape or colour and the crop value is consequently reduced. Biotic factors, the various pests and pathogens, often produce the most obvious defects, although some abiotic factors, such as abnormal environmental conditions and the presence of toxic chemicals, can be equally damaging. In this book we are concerned chiefly with the biotic factors and the symptoms they cause, although abiotic disorders, often with no known cause are also described.
