Integrated Disease Management Approaches for Commercial Mushroom Cultivation: A Review

Abstract

Commercial mushroom cultivation is a high-value biological production system in which the crop itself is a fungus and is therefore highly vulnerable to microbial competitors, mycoparasites, bacterial pathogens and mycoviruses. Disease outbreaks can intensify rapidly because crops are produced at high density under warm, humid conditions and because workers, water, air, tools, insects and materials repeatedly move between production areas. This narrative review synthesises the major disease constraints of commercially cultivated mushrooms and presents an integrated disease management (IDM) framework centred on exclusion, substrate and casing hygiene, environmental regulation, surveillance, vector suppression, biological protection and selective chemical intervention. Particular attention is given to green mould caused by Trichoderma spp., dry bubble caused by Lecanicillium fungicola, wet bubble caused principally by Hypomyces perniciosus (syn. Mycogone perniciosa), cobweb caused by Cladobotryum spp., bacterial blotch associated mainly with Pseudomonas tolaasii and related pseudomonads, and economically important viral diseases of Agaricus bisporus. Evidence from Pleurotus and other speciality mushrooms is included where available. Across systems, the most reliable control is prevention: traceable spawn and substrates, validated heat treatment, protected casing, separation of clean and dirty traffic, vector control, stable crop climate, careful watering, rapid removal of disease foci and complete end-of-crop sanitation. Bacillus-based antagonists, bacteriophages, casing-microbiome manipulation, molecular diagnostics, volatile profiling, resistance breeding and sensor-based climate management can strengthen this foundation but should not substitute for process hygiene. Because the crop and pathogen may share fungal targets, fungicide selectivity is narrow and resistance can evolve; moreover, registrations differ among jurisdictions. Effective IDM therefore depends on layered biosecurity, timely diagnosis, locally registered treatments only when justified, and continuous verification through farm records. Future priorities include validated disease thresholds, multi-pathogen microbiome approaches, resistant cultivars, rapid diagnostics and farm-scale evaluation of biological control technologies.