Nueva Ecija is a landlocked province in Central Luzon region that is composed of 27 municipalities and 5 cities. It is a province that is rich with biodiversity on its north and east borders, which exhibit a shared ecosystem with the Caraballo mountain range in the north and the Sierra Madre mountain range in the east. Its main economic activity is farming where rice is the main crop. Part of the Sierra Madre mountain range traverses its towns of Bongabon, Laur, Rizal and Pantabangan where most of the locals perform agro – forestry activities as a means of generating income for their families. Due to the accumulation of farm residues as a result of intensive agro-forestry activities, mushroom pharming becomes a very viable agribusiness undertaking in the area. Our research team initiated the establishment of database by tracking the mushroom production activities in the province. Similarly, the prevailing climatic condition in the geographical area and the type of agro-forestry wastes have been tracked. Wastes as a result of intensive agro – forestry activities are being generated which the locals oftentimes burned in the field that posed hazard to the environment. In order to discourage this practice, our research team generated technologies on mushroom pharming using rice straw as the main substrate. The promotion of mushroom pharming is based on the suitability of mushroom species to grow in climatic conditions that prevail in the specific geographical area in the province. As a result of its collaborative research undertakings, the Center for Tropical Mushroom Research and Development of the Central Luzon State University in collaboration with the Laboratory of Forest Products Chemistry of Tokyo University of Agriculture and the Nikken Sohonsha Corporation encouraged the adoption of medicinal mushroom production technologies on rice straw – based formulation. With oyster mushroom (Pleurotus spp) as the most widely cultivated mushroom among the mushroom growers in the province, other ligninolytic mushrooms such as lacquered mushroom (Ganoderma) and wood ear mushroom (Auricularia spp.) are grown by the locals. Similarly, leaf – litter degrading mushrooms such as paddy straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) are also being cultivated in the province. However, some mushroom growers in the province adopt sawdust – based mushroom production technology which is not economically appropriate in the province due to the scarcity of its availability compared to rice straw. Majority of the mushroom growers in the province adopt the rice straw – based mushroom technology. Moreover, high value mushroom – based products other than the fresh mushrooms are already in the local market.

Food fortification is defined as the addition of nutrients at levels higher than those found in the original food to improve nutritional quality. Oyster mushrooms generally contain low calcium. This present study focused on the Ca absorption efficacy of Pleurotus florida using eggshell powder, oyster shell powder and agricultural lime. Various concentrations (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10%) of different calcium sources were added to the rice straw – based formulation. Duration of days from inoculation to mycelial colonization, primordial formation, fruiting body development were evaluated. Furthermore, the effect of Ca sources on the total yield and biological efficiency were also noted. Results revealed that addition of Ca sources on the formulated substrates generally lengthens time of mycelial ramification, primordial formation and fruiting body development. ESP-supplemented substrate generally increased the size of the cap but not greatly affected the stipe length and diameter of the fruiting bodies. On the other hand, the influence of addition of OSP increases cap size but decreases stipe length and diameter. Finally, for the incorporation of AGL, it was observed that size of cap of the fruiting bodies generally decreased in size, shortened the stipe and influence of AGL to the stipe diameter may vary depending on the concentration. Moreover, Ca supplementation increases the yield, biological efficiency and Ca content of P. florida. The highest yield from the substrate supplemented with eggshell powder was recorded at 8% concentration with 194.80g and biological efficiency of 36.26%. Substrate with 8% oyster shell powder resulted with the highest yield of 176.80g with biological efficiency of 33.92%. For agricultural lime supplemented substrate, the highest yield was observed in 6% concentration with 186.40g and biological efficiency of 35.51%. Optimum Ca content absorbed by P. florida was recorded in 6% ESP (140mg/100g dried sample), 10% OSP (105mg/100g dried sample) and 8% AGL (170mg/100g dried sample). These findings imply that addition of Ca on rice straw-based substrate can significantly improve yield, biological efficiency, and Ca content of the fruiting bodies.

Research on the useful mushroom was done at Aurora Memorial National Park (AMNP). The Park is situated in Central Luzon Region with a total land area of 5,676 hectares. AMNP has no distinct wet and dry season thus provides a favorable climate, which promotes the growth of useful mushrooms. The photo-documentation and collections were performed to assess diversity. Five Transect Lines (TL) were laid out in five areas, with 20m x 30m quadrat and interval of 100 meters between quadrats. The study resulted in the identification of 36 families, 53 genera, and 104 species of which 97 are basidiomycetes and 6 are ascomycetes. Simpson’s and Shannon diversity indexes resulted in 0.7254 and 1.4295, respectively. In both indexes, useful mushrooms at AMNP showed moderately diverse. While the evenness revealed 0.1565 indicating low species evenness in each TL. Among the significant findings revealed two new possible new species of Microporus and Cymatoderma.

Collybia reinakeana (P.) Henn used to be a wild endemic edible mushroom not until it was discovered in the mountainous area of Puncan, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines after the great earthquake that jolted Central Luzon in 1990. It is characterized to having big fruiting bodies (about 1 foot tall) that grow in cluster. Its mycelia were rescued from the wild and the first domestication studies were conducted which lead to the generation of its production technology. It is a nutraceutical mushroom that exhibits antibacterial and anti-hypertensive properties aside from its appreciable content of both standard as well as non- standard amino acids. It also exhibits mycoparasitic habit against species of Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Fusarium. Recently, emergence of this mushroom in the different areas in the Philippines have been reported which prompted our research team to conduct geo - tracking in order to rescue its secondary mycelia in our desire to conserve this endemic species of mushroom. With our conservation efforts, we have tracked the areas where it was found growing and subsequently isolated the secondary mycelia. At present, our research team were able to collect 9 different strains from the different areas namely Bataan (1), Science City of Munoz (2), Urdaneta City (1), San Manuel, Pangasinan (1), Rosales, Pangasinan (1), Bicos, Rizal, Nueva Ecija (1), Dipaculao, Aurora (1) and Bamban, Tarlac(1).

Collybia reinakeana (P.) Henn used to be a wild endemic edible mushroom not until it was discovered in the mountainous area of Puncan, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines after the great earthquake that jolted Central Luzon in 1990. It is characterized to having big fruiting bodies (about 1 foot tall) that grow in cluster. Its mycelia were rescued from the wild and the first domestication studies were conducted which lead to the generation of its production technology. It is a nutraceutical mushroom that exhibits antibacterial and anti-hypertensive properties aside from its appreciable content of both standard as well as non- standard amino acids. It also exhibits mycoparasitic habit against species of Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Fusarium. Recently, emergence of this mushroom in the different areas in the Philippines have been reported which prompted our research team to conduct geo – tracking in order to rescue its secondary mycelia in our desire to conserve this endemic species of mushroom. With our conservation efforts, we have tracked the areas where it was found growing and subsequently isolated the secondary mycelia. At present, our research team were able to collect 9 different strains from the different areas namely Bataan (1), Science City of Munoz (2), Urdaneta City (1), San Manuel, Pangasinan (1), Rosales, Pangasinan (1), Bicos, Rizal, Nueva Ecija (1), Dipaculao, Aurora (1) and Bamban, Tarlac(1).