The University of Pikeville is getting a $40,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a project researching the potential to grow regional specialty mushrooms in abandoned coal mines.
The project will test if waste within the mines can be used to help the growing process. UPike researchers say coal mines could provide the ideal environment to grow a large amount of Appalachian mushrooms, which can be sold as gourmet ingredients at a high value.
“In addition to the high values of the crops themselves, our mushrooms can consume most organic wastes,” Assistant Professor of Biology Byron Meade said in a release. “We can recycle material such as cardboard and produce gourmet edible mushrooms.”
It’s part of the USDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which helps invest in agricultural projects for farmers and ranchers nationwide. The program is one of eight funded by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
Both researchers and students at the university will be able to take part in the project.
