Food production is an activity whose results are always in demand. And this is not surprising, because people are always willing to pay for the opportunity to eat tasty and natural food.
Those who are willing to devote themselves to the production of farm products should probably pay attention to such a rare agricultural business idea for our country as the cultivation of truffles. How to grow truffle in Russian natural conditions and how profitable can the production of this delicacy be?
The Golden Mushroom. Is truffle expensive?
Not a single mushroom from the existing ones in the world is ready to pay as expensive as for a truffle: the price per 1 kg varies from 500 to 5000 dollars.
Moreover, abroad it is not uncommon to have auctions in which truffles are put up for sale, as if they were works of art. Depending on the variety, quality, weight and other parameters, the price for one "golden mushroom" can reach an indecently high mark of several thousand euros.
Of course, homemade truffles have little chance of becoming bidders. And the price for them is significantly lower than for a mushroom grown in the natural environment. Restaurants, whose menu includes dishes from the "golden mushroom", are willing to buy truffles grown on plantations. The price per 1 kg of product does not scare them.
Which truffle is in demand
In fact, there are many types of mushroom. But not everyone is good for food. In cooking, only two types are used. White, he is Piedmontese, is the rarest and most valuable. It grows mainly in Italy, and specifically in the Piedmont region, which gave the name to the species. The mushroom has a delicate, delicate aroma and delicious taste. Unfortunately, these truffles cannot be grown at home.
Another species is black, or, as it is also called, perigorsk truffle. The homeland of the mushroom is the French region of the same name. Due to the fact that black truffle is not as capricious as white, and lends itself to cultivation in plantation conditions, perigorsk truffle grows in many European countries, as well as in Russia and Ukraine.
In addition to these two, there are other edible species. For example, Chinese or summer. But for plantations, black is most suitable. Therefore, when talking about how to grow a truffle, usually it is the Perigord species that is meant.
We grow truffle in Russia. Harvest conditions
Several centuries of observing and collecting truffles made it possible to derive the formula for the necessary conditions for the successful growth of truffles on plantations. The technology for growing truffles is a rather complicated, costly and, most importantly, long process. To get the first crop, it will take at least 5 years of caring for the farm. What you need to know about how to grow truffle? First of all, for a capricious delicacy to take root and begin to grow, it is required:
- suitable climate and landing area;
- favorable soil (soil);
- mycorrhiza.
Climatic and relief features
A moderate warm climate and a stable low level of precipitation are the main climatic requirements of the truffle. A tender mushroom does not tolerate either intense heat or prolonged cold weather.
Where and how to grow truffle in our country? The middle strip of Russia is well suited for production - sunny and not too hot summers, spring rains and warm autumn contribute to the excellent growth of a delicious mushroom.
If the lease of the land is not planned, it is quite possible to grow truffle in the basement. At the same time, the room should be sufficiently spacious, with moderate humidity and a stable temperature of about +22 degrees.
Truffle Farm Primer
To the soil in which truffles will grow, the requirements are no less high. A laboratory analysis of soil saturation with nutrients, nitrogen, carbon, lime, calcium will be required. Also, the soil surface should not be subject to water erosion and be at an angle of no more than 15 degrees. The height of the fertile soil layer is required at least 30 cm.
Before planting, the acid-base balance, which has a primer for truffles, must be checked. You can do this with two simple tests. Some soil taken at the site of the proposed plantation needs to be added to a container with white vinegar. If the reaction is a quiet hiss of the solution, this means too much acidity. Another test is performed using a litmus test, which just needs to be immersed in the ground. The paper should turn blue. The absence of such a reaction also means an insufficient level of alkali. In both cases, the alkaline level of the site must be increased by gradually adding lime.
Mycorrhiza and planting seedlings
The symbiosis of the roots of the partner tree and the truffle is called "mycorrhiza". The mushroom grows underground, on the roots of the tree, in families of 5-7 truffles. The tree nourishes its “neighbors” with everything necessary for growth: carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, and other set of substances that affect the taste of the fungus. But the truffle does not parasitize - symbiosis helps the tree to become saturated with minerals and phosphorus.
Planting of mycelium, the fungal seed, occurs in several stages.
It is important to know that seedlings with mycorrhiza fungus are planted in open ground. Ready-made seedlings infected with truffle mycelium can simply be bought. And to create mycorrhiza on its own, it will take seedlings of partner trees and land from the natural habitat of the truffle infected with mycelium. Having infected the rhizome with truffle mycelium, the seedling should be kept in absolutely sterile conditions for at least two weeks. And only after quarantine the seedling can be planted in open soil. It is done like this:
- A small amount of water is poured into the prepared wells with a depth of about 70 cm, after which a tree with mycorrhiza is planted and sprinkled with earth.
- It is required to create a protective layer around the hole in a radius of 40 cm. This can be a layer of garden film, forest foliage and branches, straw.
- Important: it is unacceptable to plant trees too close to each other. The optimal planting is 5 by 4 m, thus, no more than 500 mycorrhizal seedlings per 1 hectare.
- Before planting, you do not need to additionally use fertilizers so as not to harm the mycelium.
After planting a seedling, mycorrhiza takes a whole year to gain a foothold. After that, the truffle will reliably and finally take root at the root.
Further care occurs in this way: you need to remove weeds around the planting, do not forget to loosen in the spring and regularly water the trees with a drop method. Cracks that can form in the soil must be covered with sand.
The entire period of growth of seedlings must be protected from rodents, rabbits and pests. In addition, on the site, along with allied trees, there may be plants near which the capricious delicacy will not be able to grow. Such trees need to be cleaned.
What trees are required to grow truffle?
An ideal partner for mycorrhiza is oak. But trees such as olive, hazel, sequoia, beech, hornbeam or any kind of citrus may come up.
Important: the truffle categorically does not tolerate willow, poplar, spruce, chestnut, fir! These trees should not be on the plantation.
How to find a crop?
Cultivated truffles at home ripen from the beginning to late autumn, and the amount of mushrooms that can be harvested in one such period is, according to rough estimates, 10 or 15 kg per hectare.
Truffle differs from other fruits of the earth in that it is not enough to plant and grow it. This mushroom still has to be found - the crop can hide at a depth of about 30 cm underground. It is better, of course, while waiting for the first truffles to purchase a specially trained animal (dog or pig) that can smell the delicacy. But if there is no such assistant on the farm, there are several signs by which you can find a family of truffles:
- The smell of a ripe truffle family invariably attracts insects. For this reason, a large amount of midges always curls over the place where the mushrooms "hid".
- Grass growing over the truffle dies and dries by the time the mushroom ripens.
- The land above the truffle is slightly raised.
How to properly store harvested mushrooms
Undoubtedly, the best product is freshly cut, that is, one that was collected no more than a day ago. However, if the sale of truffle or cooking dishes from these delicacies is possible a little later, to preserve all the taste and nutritional properties of the mushroom, the following storage rules must be observed:
- truffles should always be stored without clearing the earth, because it, like a natural container, will save the cut mushroom from the damaging effects of microorganisms and the loss of a natural delicate taste;
- cool storage temperature (refrigerator);
- professional chefs recommend this method of preserving the truffle's natural moisture: wrap the unpeeled mushroom in parchment paper and place in a container of dry rice.
So, having examined in more detail how truffle mushrooms grow and what conditions need to be created for this, we can conclude that the process of their production is incredibly long and costly. Nevertheless, plantations for the cultivation of this delicacy are not only widespread in European countries, but also gradually gaining momentum in Russia. The reason is simple: this business is profitable, no matter what. Truffle, once planted, bears fruit for a very long time, up to 30 years. And given prices and high demand, we can expect that all investments will pay off in the first harvest years.