Effects of Strain, Casing-Layer Thickness, and Molybdenum on Yield, Biological Efficiency, and Fruiting-Body Morphology of Agaricus bisporus

• Shahad Abdul Aziz Abdullah Khalid Ibrahem Mustaf *

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      A cultivation experiment was conducted during the 2025-2026 production season at the Mushroom Research Station, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, College of Agriculture, Diyala University, Iraq, to evaluate the effects of strain, casing-layer thickness, and molybdenum application on the productivity and fruiting-body morphology of Agaricus bisporus. The study was conducted as a 2×3×3 factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The treatments consisted of a white strain ( V1 ) and a brown strain ( V2 ), three peat-moss casing-layer thicknesses (3, 5, 7 cm), and three molybdenum levels (0, 60, 120 mg Mo experimental unit⁻¹ ) . The evaluated traits were recorded over the first three flushes. Strain V2 produced higher total yield, biological efficiency, and mean fruiting-body weight , reaching 5081.01 g experimental unit⁻¹ , 85.77% , and 29.34 g , respectively ,whereas V1 produced a greater number of fruiting bodies ( 210.82 experimental unit⁻¹). A 5-cm casing layer produced the highest total yield (4985.60 g experimental unit⁻¹), biological efficiency ( 84.16% ) , and fruiting-body number (216.00 experimental unit⁻¹), whereas the 3-cm casing layer produced the highest mean fruiting-body weight (28.32 g). The response to molybdenum varied among traits, the control treatment produced the highest yield and biological efficiency, 60 mg Mo was more favorable for mean fruiting-body weight, and 120 mg Mo produced the highest fruiting-body number. The V2C1M0 combination recorded the highest numerical total yield (5662.90 g experimental unit⁻¹) and biological efficiency (94.66%) , whereas V1C2M120 produced the greatest number of fruiting bodies (310.00 experimental unit⁻¹). Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between fruiting-body number and mean fruiting-body weight (r= −0.674, P≤ 0.001) and a significant positive correlation between mean fruiting-body weight and total yield (r = 0.511, P≤ 0.001). Overall , strain and casing-layer thickness clearly influenced production performance, whereas the response to molybdenum depended on the trait evaluated .

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