Oyster mushrooms production using processed wheat straw

A group of farmers at Nanesti in Vrancea County, Eastern Romania, identified a new market opportunity which they exploited with the use of EAFRD support. Demand of oyster mushrooms is on the rise, however, the necessary compost for their production was not produced locally. It had to be imported from abroad at significant cost. To cover this market gap they decided to form a cooperative and use RDP funding to build a compost plant to produce compost for growing oyster mushrooms. The plant would use their own processed wheat straw. The support received helped them buy the necessary equipment and machinery, hire and train their staff, set up a pilot farm for testing the quality of the compost produced and acquire quality certification.