A private commercial spawn laboratory at Guwahati was facing the problem of slow growth of spawn of Pleurotus sp. It was found that this spawn laboratory was using a cheaper grade (Rs. 6 per kg) of calcium carbonate (CaCO_3) which is known as French chalk and sold in the hardware shops. It was relatively rough in texture as compared to other grades of CaCO_3. The purpose of coating the grain with CaCO_3 @2% was not only to reduce stickiness of the parboiled grains but also to raise the pH to 7.5 or above, which is optimum for spawn growth. The above problem prompted us to study the effect of different grades of CaCO_3 on the rate of growth of spawn. Different grades of CaCO_3 were available in the market with their price ranging from Rs. 6/- to 130/- per kg.. A cheaper grade of CaCO_3 was preferred by the commercial spawn laboratories in order to cut down the cost of spawn production. The goal of this work was to find out the best as well as the economical grade of CaCO_3 for spawn production.
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