A panel on ‘Development of Mushroom Industry in Turkey and China’ was held by the Faculty of Agriculture and Agricultural and Nature Research Application and Research Centre.

Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özav, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture Prof. Dr. Fatih Çelen, faculty members, private sector representatives, public institutions and students attended the panel held in Mustafa Kemal Paşa Amphitheatre.

Prof. Dr. Lütfi Özav, who made the opening speech of the panel, mentioned the importance of such events that highlight the agricultural potential of Uşak and our region and thanked Dr. Mike Sun and Dr. Mustafa Kemal Soylu for their participation in the panel and the valuable information they will provide.

Dr. Mike Sun, General Manager of Zhengzhou Satrise, a company engaged in mushroom production mechanisation systems, cultivation consultancy, installation and automatic machine production activities in China, and Dr. Mustafa Kemal Soylu, Head of Mushroom Research Center of Atatürk Horticultural Cultures Central Research Institute and visiting faculty member of Uşak University Faculty of Agriculture, took part in the panel as panelists. 

Prof. Dr. Mike Sun made presentations on ‘Mushroom Production in China and Innovations in Mushroom Technology’ and Dr. Mustafa Kemal Soylu made presentations on ‘Mushroom Production in Turkey and Bottle Culture Technology in Mushroom’.

Prof. Dr. Mike Sun stated that the world mushroom production is 46 million tonnes and 42 million tonnes corresponding to 94% of this is produced by China. He also emphasised that 200 mushroom species are produced in China and 80 of them can be cultivated commercially. Explaining that mushroom production has doubled with the bag system automation techniques developed in China in the last 10 years, Dr Sun gave information about these automation systems used in China. Stating that liquid mycelia technology in mushroom production in China has also become widespread in recent years, especially in large enterprises, Dr Sun said: ‘By using liquid mycelia, mushrooms can be obtained earlier and the seed cost is at least 5 times lower than the traditional method. In addition, since liquid mycelia production is produced by the enterprise itself, there is no need to purchase seed mycelia. This eliminates an important cost,’ he said.

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kemal Soylu stated in his presentation that the cultivated mushroom produced in our country is around 70-80 thousand tonnes and the most produced mushroom type is white cap cultivated mushroom and this type is followed by oyster mushroom. Prof. Dr. Soylu gave information about their R&D activities and said that Turkey's first domestic and national mushroom varieties ‘Yaprak 77’, ‘Soylu 77’ and ‘Karbeyaz 100’ were bred and registered. Dr Soylu informed that bottle culture technology, which is the latest technology in mushroom, has been transferred to our country as a result of the joint studies carried out with South Korea for 9 years, and said, ‘The “Brother Stone” variety has been developed as a sickle with South Korea. Resihi and lamb's belly mushroom production breeding studies are still ongoing. With the TUBITAK 1001 project carried out, enoki mushroom breeding work is still ongoing.

In the evaluation part of the panel, it was stated that Uşak has an important potential for mushroom cultivation and it was emphasised that a significant employment can be provided with the development of mushroom cultivation in Uşak and different trainings and R&D studies will be planned for the development of mushroom cultivation in Uşak in the coming periods.

The panel ended after the presentation of certificates of appreciation to the panellists and a collective photo shoot.