In a workshop in the Red Red Drama Prosotsani Municipalitybetween agricultural waste, plant residues, winemaking marriage, sawdust and straw, some of the most valuable nutritional fruits of nature, mushrooms. It is a modern reality of a new generation of growers who invest in sustainability, innovation, recycling and ecological development.
Theophilos Komninos belongs to this new generation of cultivators and scientists. It attempts through systematic research and searching for new practices to radically change not only mushroom cultivation, recyclable materials and waste, but also to provide modern ecological solutions to daily needs.
In recent years, mushroom cultivation has been an impressive growth both due to the increasing demand for alternative nutrients and because it offers an alternative way of exploiting waste and agricultural by -products. Unlike other crops, mushrooms do not need soil, not much light. What they need is a suitable substrate, a material rich in organic matter, on which the mycelium will spread, that is, the root system of the fungus. The substrate has a critical role in the success of cultivation, as it offers nutrients and proper humidity and ventilation conditions.
A student of the Department of the Environment of the University of the Aegean, Theophilos Komninos is a particularly active young scientist, with many concerns about the environment and his protection. He devotes much of his daily life to research and seeking ecological methods, capable of helping the natural environment and the daily life of man better.
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“I admit that research is exciting me, it is a continuation of my studies, through which my knowledge is enriched. From the day I started the university, I have been devoting a lot of time to research and search for practices that will help us live in harmony with the environment, “says, speaking to RES-EIA, the 38-year-old Drama Mushroom Cultivator and continues:” In recent years I have been focusing on the creation of ecological creation. In addition, I cultivate and market specific varieties of mushrooms. We created a standard greenhouse with geothermal inspiration. We installed photovoltaic panels for the needs of the current, cooling and heating. Water and air pipes around the greenhouse regulate the external temperature with soil temperature. So we achieve an ecological mushroom cultivation. “
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Natural pasteurization and cheap raw materials change data
The comparative advantage for this new scientist and researcher is the creation of cultivation substrates at the lowest possible costs, which is available in urban centers in Greece and Cyprus. Cooperation with Drama Agricultural Enterprises to get all their farm waste and the fact that it is very close to free natural raw materials used to create substrates makes it particularly competitive.
“To create the substrates I mainly use waste from cotton gin, wheat skyscrapers, residues that are not used for animal feed but also bermal remains of grapes after vinification. Before I came up with them, for a long time I experimented with other materials, such as Katsigaros, which is the wet fraction of olives after the mill and Poseidonia, the sea plant. In recent years I have been experimenting with various materials that will be suitable to be the substrate for mushroom cultivation. The secret is in the processing of these materials and at the cost required to pasteurize them to be suitable for mushroom cultivation. “
After systematic research he himself discovered an innovative method of naturally achieving the pasteurization of all recyclable materials used for the cultivation substrate without consuming fossil fuels or electricity.
“In our case,” he emphasizes, “the necessary pasteurization is achieved through a microbiological activity that the materials themselves develop. It is a fact, however, that all varieties of mushrooms do not need the same climatic conditions to develop. “
“For example,” he continues, “some mushrooms grow on a perfectly sterile substrate, need light and fresh air, while others need less protection against microorganisms and weeds, while organic crops have no splash. What we have achieved to date is to have our own seed production, a cheaper and more competitive seed, with less energy consumption and a smaller environmental footprint. “
Waste that becomes food and then… innovation
The substrates derived from natural recyclable waste can be used more than once if there is a process of enriching them. But when their productive cycle is closed, they return to Earth as a soil or soil.
In September 2024, Theophilos Komninos was awarded by AMKE Cyclops, founded by the businessman and great benefactor of Drama Aris Theodoridis, with the “Draminos Farmer 2024” award for the implementation and transmission of production methods to agriculture.
For the past ten years he has been experimenting with a great success in the processing and reuse of seasonal farming. He saw his vision take “flesh and bones” with the ecological production of a food, such as mushroom, with high quality and nutritional value.
However, this production covers only part of the personal research it does. Beyond the cultivation, the capabilities offered by the mycelium, that is, the basic biological matter of the mushroom, and therefore the substrate on which it grows, is enormous.
Speaking to RES-EIA, he reveals that he has explored the use of Mycelio in the production of a structural material with a mild environmental footprint. At the same time, he notes, it can be a kind of natural packaging material, equivalent to styrofoam, which is comfortably used as a protective material to transport all kinds of commodity. Mr Komninos, with satisfaction, emphasizes that he has already proceeded with the pilot production of this natural packaging material, which has a lesser commercial cost and most importantly does not burden the environment as he returns to Earth and decomposes.
After all, mushroom cultivation with natural recyclable materials is not just a trend. It is one of the most realistic examples of how viability can encounter entrepreneurship and innovation the need for a cleaner future. The use of recyclable materials is not just an economical solution, it is a strategic choice that serves the principle of the circular economy. In short, nothing is lost.