Oyster mushroom cultivation provides an opportunity to transform agricultural residues into nutritious food while supporting sustainable production and rural entrepreneurship. The present investigation compared the growth, productivity and preliminary economic potential of Pleurotus florida and Pleurotus odoratus under the monsoon conditions of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, during August 2026. Both species were cultivated on wheat straw and paddy straw using a Completely Randomised Design with three replications per treatment. Growth and production parameters included spawn-run duration, pinhead initiation, and first harvest, number of flushes, total yield and biological efficiency.

The observations indicated that P. florida developed more rapidly and reached harvest earlier than P. odoratus. Paddy straw supported higher yield and biological efficiency in both species. The highest recorded yield was 378.6 g per 500 g substrate for P. florida, with a biological efficiency of 75.7%, compared with 364.1 g and 72.8%, respectively, for P. odoratus on paddy straw. Relative humidity showed a stronger reported association with yield ((r = 0.71)) than temperature ((r = 0.34)). The preliminary economic estimates indicated a lower production cost for P. florida, whereas P. odoratus had a higher indicative farm-gate price. These findings suggest that P. florida may be suitable for growers seeking a shorter cultivation cycle, while P. odoratus warrants further evaluation for specialised markets. Additional trials are required to confirm the consistency of these results across seasons and cultivation environments.