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Abstract: A constant increase of interest in mushroom growing in Bulgaria has been recorded over the past 22 years, alongside the industrial development of the country and the growth of the cities. With only 2000 to 3000 tons of annual production at present, mushroom' growing is just a small branch of Bulgarian agriculture. The principal characteristic of Bulgarian mushroom growing is its small scale. Thousands of small mushroom growers, organized by the Central Cooperative Union, are at work, thus transforming amateur mushroom growing into a well developed business. The majority of mushroom growers still apply a primitive cultivation technology (Rantcheva, 1974). However, experimental work carried out at the Experimental Station on Horticulture, Negovan, Sofia, over the past several years proved that primitive mushroom growing could be intensified via the implementation of certain elements of modern technology: heat treatment of compost, grain spawn and mixed spawning in plastic bags as a cultivation vessel (Rantcheva, 1978). Owing to the rapid development of technology and international contacts, scientific achievements quickly reach the interested grower, who selects and applies entirely new technologies or separate elements thereof in his work. The shortage of ready-made peak heated compost, produced in mechanized composting yards for the Bulgarian small mushroom grower, induced us to search for means to introduce individual mushroom growing equipment. Ideas and practical achievements abroad in mushroom growing countries came to our assistance (Derk, 1973; Schmaus, 1974). Sharing experience through personal contacts (in grateful acknowledgement of Delmas, d'Hardmare, Vedder, Gerrits) helped, too. Foreign experience was evaluated under local conditions where a technology and the respective equipment for heat treatment in bulk, suitcible for small mushroom growers was developed. during the period of initial heating, the pasteurization and conditioning period requires a minimum quantity of fresh air (5 to 10%) which is actually provided by this opening of variable size, spanning over an area of up to 50cm2.
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