SOUTHERN AND EAST AFRICA
VIRTUAL LEARNING - INTERACTIVE SELF-PACED TOPICS

Gauteng, North West, Free State, Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces and other Southern and East African Countries

Focussed Cultivation Topics Virtual Learning

A deep dive into a specific subject or issue for a thorough and comprehensive analysis thereof. The following nine topics are available:

1. Spawn 
   Understanding the grain and liquid spawn making process
2. Substrate
   How to select the most suitable mushroom cultivation substrate ingredients
3. Cropping
   Understanding the spawn run process and the different mushroom cultivation stages
4. Marketing 
   Understanding the mushroom market and pricing
5. Business Plans
   How to structure a mushroom cultivation business plan
6. Operations
   How to manage the operational activities of a mushroom cultivation enterprise
7. Case Studies
   Critical evaluation of mushroom cultivation scenarios
8. Problem Solving
   A once-off emergency consultation service
9. Business Rescue
   If you have previously been advised by amateurs with no formal qualifications in as far as the cultivation of mushrooms are concerned

PLATFORM

• Modules via e-mail
• Attached PDF, XLSX and JPG documents
• Q&A via e-mail and requested virtual (Zoom) sessions
• Requested Zoom sessions according to your own schedule and availability
• Zoom sessions should preferably be on week days between 10h00-12h00 or 19h00-21h00
• Responsibility for set-up of individual 30 minute Zoom sessions lies with the Academy
• The Academy is based in the SAST/CAT (Cape Town) = GMT/UTC+2 time zone 

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to send and receive e-mail
• Preferably an e-mail address where size limitation is not a barrier (minimum 25 Mb) e.g. gmail.com or yahoo.com 
• Access to laptop, desktop, tablet or smartphone with applicable camera, microphone and speakers
• Browser or downloaded free version of the Zoom app
• Reliable internet connection and
• Set of ear / headphones to minimise disturbance in co-sharing environments and to avoid voice echoing in the meeting 

TOPIC DURATION SPECIFICS

• Own pace and schedule
• No time limitations

HOW TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT CURRENCY

Each topic has two different rates, the

1. Discounted SADC member rate as listed in ZAR (South African Rand) and the
2. International non-SADC rate as stated in EURO

Discounted SADC member rate as listed in ZAR
Participants from SADC countries www.sadc.int/member-states qualify for the discounted rate as listed in ZAR (South African Rand), but ONLY when paid in ZAR, either directly via

• Manual EFT
• Instant EFT by Payfast, or the
• Payfast payment gateway

International non-SADC rate as stated in EURO
Participants from non-SADC countries should use the secure PayPal gateway to pay the rate as stated in EURO, either directly via

• PayPal, or the
• PayPal debit / credit card options (PayPal account is not a prerequisite to these card payments)

What are the advantages of Virtual Learning?

• Suited for those with social and aurial personalities
• Being one of the components of a blended learning process (a mixed experience that includes e-Learning), virtual learning participants will benefit from both learning styles
• Virtual Q&A sessions encourage real-time interaction
• Ability to structure own Q&A sessions
• Adaptability to complete your course as quickly or slowly as circumstance dictates
• All information in clear and easy to understand modules via e-mail (attached PDF, XLSX and JPG documents), followed by Q&A via e-mail and virtual (Zoom) sessions
• One learner per instructor, thus undivided attention
• Unlimited e-mail and / or cell phone access to instructor whilst doing the course

What are the disadvantages of Virtual Learning?

• Less cost-effective when compared to the e-Learning method of training

Why registering for a focussed cultivation topic at the Academy?

• You are dealing with experienced mushroom specialists, in other words, professionals who completed post graduate degrees at universities, worked at research institutes and served the private industries over years 
• Mushroom cultivation is a field of specialisation. We also recommend you complete the training before spending on infrastructure you will probably not need 
• Value for money. A surprisingly high number of spawn, cultivating and so-called mushroom guru topics are run by amateurs. Training should preferably be left to the professionals. Unless you want to be a mushroom hobbyist.