Mushroom Research Facilities
There is only one mushroom production research facility and program in Canada. It was established by the province of Ontario to service its mushroom industry. Mushroom research commenced in 1972 at the Horticultural Research Institute ofOntario. Provincial funding in the early 1990's enabled a new mushroom research unit to be built. The new facility has six small-scale production rooms, each with 10 m² of production surface. Each room can hold up to 36 trays on rolling carts. Each tray measures 57 x 45 x 22 cm. Walls and doors of the production roomsare fabricated with fibreglass reinforced panels (FRP) and polyisocyanurate foam insulation. The materials and structures can withstand 88 °C for at least 48 hours.
The production rooms are serviced by two stainless steel clad tunnels. Each tunnel can hold 3 tonnes of compost and can be used for either bulk Phase II or spawn-run. Compost is loaded or removed using a tunnel cassette or puller. Trays are filled, spawned and pressed semi-automatically. The environment of each tunnel and growing room is managed by a decentrallized computer system.
The research facility is staffed by one scientist (Dr. Danny Rinker) and one technician (Glen Alm). The scientist time is split 60:40 between research and advisory functions with the technician supporting both the research and advisory efforts.
Contact: Dr. Danny Rinker
