Mushroom cultivation with just Rs 300 and became self reliant

The demand for mushroom is high in urban areas. Mushroom dishes are specially made in big hotels. Mushroom may be an exotic vegetable, but it has become very popular among Indians in the last few years. Its production has also increased significantly in about a decade. At present, mushroom cultivation is mainly done on commercial level in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. The demand for mushroom is increasing, in such a situation its cultivation can prove to be a profitable deal. Realizing this fact, Pratibha Jha of Darbhanga district of Bihar also decided to grow it and now apart from earning a lot from it, she is giving training to others as well.

Homemaker turned successful woman farmer 

Pratibha Jha of Darbhanga district belongs to a farming family and her husband is engaged in animal husbandry, pisciculture and making vermicompost along with farming. Pratibha, who studied till 12th, used to help her husband in all his work along with household chores, but she was not satisfied with this much. She wanted to do something that would help the family and society financially. Pratibha Jha started gathering information about mushroom cultivation. He took 2 to 3 days training from Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur through ATMA Darbhanga. Apart from this, with the support of ATMA organization, he got the opportunity to visit various Krishi Vigyan Kendras and Kisan Melas, which increased his confidence along with knowledge.

This is how mushroom farming started 

After training and gathering information from various sources, he started mushroom cultivation in October 2016 with just Rs.300. Now she is cultivating 3 types of mushrooms, which include oyster, button and milky mushrooms. She produces mushrooms throughout the year and 2 to 3 laborers are engaged in this work daily. Due to this, the daily wage laborers also get financial help.

Many things are made from mushrooms 

Pratibha is not limited to mushroom cultivation only, but has also learned to make 31 dishes from mushrooms. She makes many things like Adori (Vadi), Papad, Mushroom Sattu, Mushroom Besan, Peda, Gulab Jamun, Mushroom Jalebi.

Prepares seeds, sells them to farmers at low rates 

Pratibha produces around 1000 bags of mushrooms per batch. Gets 10 kg mushroom crop every day. She sells it at Rs 100 to 150 per kg. Apart from this, she also produces mushroom spawn, which she sells to farmers.

The special thing is that she does not sell her products in the market, but at retail price from home. When production is high and sales are low, she keeps the mushrooms dry. Mushroom cultivation has made Pratibha self-reliant. She is earning 30 thousand rupees per month. His target is to increase it to Rs 1 lakh in the coming time. He has also received many honors for promoting mushroom cultivation in his area. In 2017, on the occasion of Mushroom Day, he was awarded the ‘Babu Jagjivan Ram Puraskar’ at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University. He was also awarded the state level ‘Best Mushroom Farmer Award’ in 2018 during Bihar State Foundation Day Celebrations.

Teaching women to become self-reliant 

She is inspiring women to move forward and become self-reliant with her statement “If you decide to lose, you decide to win”. She has also helped many women to open small units by teaching them the techniques of mushroom production.

Also Read: Meet Toshan Kumar, known practitioner of mushroom cultivation

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