ABSTRACT
In the present study, we tried to produce mushrooms from agro-wastes, such as apple pomace and sweetcorn stover, and ruminant feed from the resultant spent mushroom substrate (SMS). In the first experiment, Hypsizygus marmoreus and Flammulina velutipes were cultivated on substrates containing graded levels of fermented apple pomace (FAP). The former grew successfully on the substrate containing FAP at 9%, but the latter at 15%, suggesting that the latter was more adaptable to the FAP substrate. Therefore, FAP containing SMS from F. velutipes was ensiled and then fed to ewes, but they consumed this silage little. In the second experiment, F. velutipes was cultivated on substrates containing graded levels of fermented short- and long-cut sweetcorn stover (FCS). This mushroom grew well on the substrates containing long-cut FCS at 25%. The ensiled SMS of this mushroom was consumed readily by ewes, but its function as a roughage substitute was insufficient.
