A transition day...
We travel by jeep to the Gishwati Forest Reserve, which rises majestically above the Lake Kivu, half a kilometer from
the town of Gisenyi. In this virgin
montane forest of 1500 hectares we make our way through difficult terrain
looking for edible mushrooms that could be grown by our project partner Kigali
farms.
On route our 4X4 broke
down. But then, lifting our spirits, Jérôme cried
out ‘Look Termitomyces robustus!'
On the side of the road a young girl was
selling two nice bunches of this mushroom (see photo). This edible mushroom, known through the whole
of central Africa, is not included in our mission. This is because there is virtually no chance
that it could ever be commercially grown.
Why not?
The reason is
simple. Termitomyces robustus grow in termite hills forming a symbiosis
(partnership) with termites. This
partnership is a win-win situation. By
farming the mycelium (or fungal hyphae) inside the termite hill, the ants are
helped to breakdown woody material by enzymes secreted by the fungus. This means that if we want to cultivate this
particular mushroom we will have to find a way of ‘domesticating’ the termites
because they are essential for the development of the fungal mycelium. This is perhaps future music but, for the
meantime, we are a long way from achieving this goal. It is for this reason that our mission is
primarily focused on the search for edible saprotrophic mushrooms (like
Pleurotes) that are far easier to cultivate commercially. More on this later…
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