The student and the dream make the packaging from mushrooms

Studying in the 3rd year of business administration, Lam Van Lap was surprised when it came to growing mushrooms and pursued the project of making organic packaging from rice husk, coffee, pepper, straw combined with mushroom instead. for foam.

The student of Hoa Sen University in Ho Chi Minh City shared, the debt with mushroom originates from the "crazy" purchase. The story began in November 2011, while looking for materials for agricultural products, Lap accidentally read books on mushroom cultivation. The first is to look to the Ho Chi Minh City Agricultural Extension Association to get a list of businesses in the industry, then Lap dive down to Cu Chi mushroom village to survey the reality.

"Because I was so fascinated, I immediately imported 500 Ganoderma mushrooms to plant in my room. Tested on November 20, 2011, I was eager to wait for the sale of mushrooms on Tet holiday but a month later, the trees died in half. " , Lap recalled.

The batch of mushrooms from the sale was Lam Van Lap
Bring home and research in the home. (Photo: Ha Thanh)

Although the plan initially failed and was ridiculed by friends, he also learned to be a farmer, but the student continued to study. Count up, there is a new test to make the commercial mushroom growers have to work hard. The most difficult thing is to adjust the humidity, the amount of water to irrigate, the light . In the end, Lap understood that mushrooms do not like water with impurities, because watering mushrooms with well water should be half of his initial investment. dissipate.

In the process of planting and selling mushrooms, Setting up many experts to advise, mushroom silk can create packaging (also known as shock-resistant pads) environmentally friendly. He and his colleagues found scientific documents, tested and sent this business idea to the exam. The ambition of this project is to convince Vietnamese companies to use this organic material within 3 years. Potential customers include ceramic manufacturing enterprises, ceramic tiles, computer manufacturers and suppliers, microchips, automobile manufacturers.

The ears of Ganoderma grown by Lap are grown. (Photo: Ha Thanh)

Looking forward to the popular mushroom packaging project, Lap shared the secret to testing this organic material. The first is to find agricultural residues such as paddy husks, bagasse, sawdust, cotton husks . and crush and mix. Next is autoclaving and then put into molds shaped according to needs. Finally, transplanting fungal silk. The mecylium fibers (considered as the root of the mushroom) will grow around covering the entire number of ingredients. The bonding of mecylium fibers forms a polymer polymer system that binds the materials. Within 5 days, organic packaging formed itself.

Making analysis, the whole process of producing organic packaging does not cost much for machinery, low energy consumption and low production cost. Meanwhile, white foam foam production needs oil to create EPS plastic beads. At high temperatures EPS particles are blown into the desired shape that will need a lot of energy. A household appliance such as television, refrigerator . need white foam foam about 2kg to pack, equivalent to 2 liters of gasoline.

"Buy products wrapped with foam packaging to take home you will remove the pads and throw them away, like throwing money in the trash. However, organic pads are more friendly and economical because of cheap, easy prices. Decomposition and reusable " , Lap said.

Establishing a presentation about organic packaging made from mushrooms before
judges a business idea contest. (Photo: Ha Thanh)

Researching on many fungi, Lap and colleagues discovered that if using Ganoderma silk, this new material can improve the rough appearance of the packaging and increase the storage time to 4 years. When buying a package that is shock proof with organic packaging made from mushrooms, consumers do not have to waste any more waste. People can leave it behind their garden as fertilizer for lush plants. Even if lucky, the owner also has a few Ganoderma mushrooms growing in the garden.

Estimated, mushroom packaging will be very cheap because the material cost is 0 dong, reducing the pressure to handle agricultural waste, less expensive silk. A mushroom packaging production facility with a scale of 390,000 products per year can save nearly VND 20 billion per year compared to foam packaging.

The future business administration bachelor said he and his colleagues planted some fungi, calculated the time of orchid and the price to create a batch of mushrooms. The project is in the process of searching for experts in the field to implement this business idea. This is also the subject of Graduation from Lap."I will pursue the dream of mushroom packaging to come to the heart of my colleagues and advisers who have supported and encouraged me in the past" , Lap said.