From April 28 to 30, 2025, UMDIS held a practical mushroom growing course at FUNGAR Farm, Italy. The training was led by UMDIS consultant Iurie Boiciuc, focusing on techniques needed for high yields and quality in mushroom cultivation.

The training started with a farm tour, guided by Federico Magnani, FUNGAR Farm. Founded in 1978 near San Marino, FUNGAR Farm has grown into a large-scale operation with 43 growing rooms, producing about 120 tonnes of white and brown button mushrooms weekly. UMDIS chose this location as participants could observe the full cultivation cycle.

There were lessons inside the growing rooms and classroom sessions. Iurie Boiciuc showed how to properly fill growing rooms using a head-filling machine, prepare casing soil, manage watering and recovery, control the cooldown process based on expected outcomes, and adjust room climate. There was also a Q&A session where people asked about specific issues from their farms and how to apply the techniques taught.

Besides technical training, the course was also a place to meet other growers, share ideas, and build useful contacts within the industry.

After the three days, participants said they were ready to apply the new knowledge on their own farms. Everyone got a certificate of completion and shared feedback:

“I absolutely recommend this course to everyone,” said Sofia Karaouli from Greece. “It helped me understand how to grow better quality mushrooms for my clients.”

“I got a lot of helpful information that will help improve our crops. Just go for it,” Taras Sukuliuk from Ireland.

“We learned methods different from what we usually do. We will try them and see how they work,” Alex Salvo from Chile.

“This course has been very productive. We got to interact with farm owners and production managers from around the world,” Veeraj Agarwal from India.

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who attended, contributed, or followed the training. Special thanks to the generous owners and team at FUNGAR Farm for hosting us, our expert trainers, the participants, and our official supporters: Agro-Projects, Christiaens Group, Growtime Engineering, e-nema, Mush Comb, and Ribbstyle.

Below are more photos from the event:

Would you like to join our next on-farm course on mushroom growing or harvesting? Send a message to UMDIS on Facebook. We also offer online trainings in composting, mushroom cultivation, and starting a mushroom business.