It all began with a telephone call nearly 4 years ago from a Mr Niels Prahm, a Danish Industrial Designer, inquiring about suitable Agaricus strains which could be grown in South America. Niels, a resident of Santa Cruz, the trade capital of Bolivia, had been involved in many successful ventures during his lifetime, which included textiles and mining, but he had no experience whatsoever of mushroom cultivation. While Bolivia produces an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables, he became aware thatno fresh mushrooms could be found in the shops or supermarkets throughout the country and came to the conclusion that a mushroom venture would be worth investigating. The only mushrooms on sale could be found in the large supermarkets of the major townsand cities and were either canned or bottled. These products were also very costly as they were imported from Europe or the USA. After carrying out some brief studies on mushroom cultivation, he soon realised that the white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus would not be a suitable strain to grow in Santa Cruz as daytime temperatures are generally well above 25 deg C and close to 30 deg C for much of the year. This is where my Bolivian adventure commenced, as he had became aware of my research findings with tropical Agaricus bitorquis strains which I had studied for many years at Horticulture Research International, Wellesbourne.
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