NOEL Arrold
could have ended up in wheat... Or in the classroom
As a microbiology student in the late 1960s, he was on his way to a
career as a teacher when his professor casually mentioned there was
money available for a PhD student who might want to postpone teaching
qualifications to pursue something more research-based.
The choice
was a diploma of education, wheat diseases . . . or mushrooms.
"I
thought, 'Well, there's a drought in Australia every few years it'll
take 10 years to do a PhD [on wheat]. I'll take the mushrooms."
.After finishing his PhD he studied in Germany and the US, returning
to Australia with a wealth of knowledge at a time when the vast
majority of the country's mushrooms were white buttons -- Agaricus
bisporus -- sold canned, often as "champignons".
In 1987 Dr Noel
Arrold, a microbiologist took over the disused railway tunnel in
Mittagong and proceeded to develop new mushroom varieties for the
Australian market. The first variety grown was the Swiss Brown
mushroom, followed by the Exotic Asian varieties – Shiitake, Oyster,
Shimejii and Wood Ear. These mushrooms thrive in the cool, damp and
dimly lit environment of the tunnel which resembles the conditions
that occur in the mountainous forests of China, Japan and Korea where
these mushrooms occur naturally. Their function in the forests is to
degrade dead trees converting them into organic matter and enriching
the soil of the forests.
For over twenty (25) years Dr Noel Arrold
has been a pioneer in developing the Exotic Mushroom Industry in
Australia
Today, Noel Arrold is one of Australia's leading growers
of exotic mushrooms.