NBS-1 (Button Mushroom)

NBS-1 is a browning-resistant white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) hybrid developed by ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan — India's dedicated mushroom research institute — as part of its breeding programme aimed specifically at reducing the post-harvest surface browning that shortens white button mushroom's market life. It is grown exactly like any other button mushroom strain, spawned into pasteurised compost and cased before fruiting, and is supplied as certified spawn through DMR's own spawn production unit and its authorised distribution network.

Plant typeSpawn (browning-resistant hybrid)
Maturity6–7 weeks to first flush (after 2–3 weeks of composting)
Yield potentialComparable to or better than S-11/U-3 in ICAR-DMR trials
Disease resistanceBred specifically for improved resistance to post-harvest browning; standard hygiene still needed against green mould and blotch
SoilGrown on a composted wheat-straw/poultry-manure/gypsum substrate, not soil
SeasonRabi

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

• Himachal Pradesh
• Punjab
• Haryana
• Uttar Pradesh

• S-11 (Button Mushroom)

  One of the most widely cultivated button mushroom strains in India, along with U-3 and imported strains such as Horst H3 — grown commercially in the organised cold-room sector as well as by smaller composting units.

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• U-3 (Button Mushroom)

  The historical base strain of white button mushroom — almost every commercial white button strain grown worldwide today, including most Indian ones, traces back to U-3, making it the closest thing this crop has to a genuine "foundation" variety.

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• Florida (Pleurotus florida — White Oyster)

  The most common oyster mushroom grown in India — usually just called "dhingri" — and the standard first crop for a new, small-space grower because it needs no compost, tolerates a wide temperature range, and fruits fastest of any commercially grown mushroom.

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• Sajor-Caju (Pleurotus sajor-caju — Grey Oyster)

  A grey-capped oyster mushroom species tolerant of somewhat higher temperatures than Florida, making it a useful choice for growers in warmer parts of the country or wanting to extend the oyster-mushroom cropping season further into the hot months.

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• Pink Oyster (Pleurotus djamor)

  A striking bright-pink oyster mushroom that fruits faster than any other cultivated mushroom species and commands a novelty premium at farmers' markets and with restaurants, but needs genuinely warm conditions and has a shorter shelf life than the grey/white oyster types.

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• Golden Oyster (Pleurotus citrinopileatus)

  A bright yellow, small-clustered oyster mushroom grown by specialty and niche-market oriented growers rather than as a mainstream commercial crop — it fetches a distinctly higher price than white or grey oyster mushroom but yields somewhat less bulk weight per bag.

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• Ostreatus (Pleurotus ostreatus — Winter Oyster)

  The cold-tolerant oyster mushroom species, fruiting well at lower temperatures than Florida or sajor-caju — the natural choice for growers in the hill states and for cropping through the coldest winter weeks in the plains without extra heating.

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• APK-2 (Milky Mushroom)

  A widely used milky mushroom strain released by Annamalai University (Tamil Nadu), valued for large, robust, milky-white mushrooms with thick stems and, unusually for a cultivated mushroom, genuinely good fruiting through the hot summer months.

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• DMR Milky-985 (Milky Mushroom)

  A milky mushroom strain identified as high-yielding by ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan following three years of multi-location cultivation trials — a research-backed alternative to the older, widely used APK-2 strain.

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• Paddy Straw Mushroom (Volvariella volvacea)

  A fast, warm-season mushroom grown directly on bundled fresh paddy straw rather than pasteurised loose straw — a natural fit for paddy-growing regions where straw is abundant right after harvest, though named strains distinct from the species-level classification are not widely documented for Indian commercial spawn, so it is represented here honestly as a species rather than a specific named cultivar.

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