Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for priority of Agaricus bisporus diseases in Tehran and Alborz provinces

Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is one the food and drug products containing different kinds of vitamins and minerals. It is a good supplier of protein and calorie that are required for human nutrition. The high value of mushroom and its cultivation indicate the impact of management of mushroom farms in terms of disease control. A number of diseases cause considerable damage to this product. Therefore, we found it necessary to determine their priorities in combating mushroom pathogens. For this and other reasons, AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) was used to evaluate common disease indices for the two provinces under study (Tehran and Alborz). A questionnaire using criteria such as quality and marketing, storage duration, cost of disease control, possibility of disease control and disease outbreaks and so on was designed. The questionnaires were filled out by mushroom producers, experts and consumers in both Tehran and Alborz provinces. The results showed that, bacterial brown blotch disease with 39% weight and fungal wet bubble disease, with 33% weight receive priority for control, respectively. The bacterial disease mummy with nearly 19 percent and green mold disease with 8 percent of the total weight ranked in descending order. These results indicate that the highest level of damage in the two areas are caused by brown blotch and wet bubble diseases and greater attention should be paid to their control than to the other common diseases. The green mold disease, according to results of AHP, is considered the least important one in the study area.