From Rs 1000 investment to Rs2 lakh monthly turnover, how this Bihar housewife scripted a mushroom success story

When Pratibha Jha was 15 years old, she lost her father, who worked in the Bihar government’s agriculture department, to cancer. Due to her mother’s ill health, Pratibha had to get married at 16 years of age, just after completing her class 10th in the year 2000.

At her husband's place in Mirzapur Hansi village of Bihar’sDarbhanga district, Pratibha spent most of her time doing household work with her head always covered as is customary in the state's patriarchal society.

“When my husband got transferred to Hyderabad, I moved with him. But in 2016, my parents-in-law were not keeping well. So I went back to the village to look after them,” she says.

At that time, she saw a newspaper article on a successful mushroom grower in Bihar. “It reminded me of my childhood when my father would take me to various mushroom farms while working in the agriculture department. Nobody in Darbhanga knew about mushrooms at that time,” she recollects.

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The article got her interested in mushroom farming and she discussed it with her husband. “Everyone around me opposed the idea as women in our village are not encouraged to step out for work. But I was very keen to do something beyond household work. My husband supported me and I went ahead,” she says.

The beginning

Pratibha went to the Darbhanga Agriculture Department and the officials directed her to Bihar Agricultural University (BAU) Sabor University in Bhagalpur for training. “There, I learned the basics of mushroom farming in 2016 and started cultivation of my first batch,” she says.

She got one kg of milky mushroom spawns (seeds) from the university after training and invested another Rs600 to buy four kg more from a local spawn seller.

“With five kg of seeds, I put up 50 bags in a room of our old house lying vacant. I invested about Rs400 in procuring paddy straw, poly bags etc., investing a total of Rs1000.” 

Since Pratibha was new to mushroom farming, she made some minor mistakes and the output was 6 kg per bag (against an average of 10kg per bag). She harvested 30kg of mushroom and sold it locally in the village, earning Rs2500. 

“That first profit of Rs1500 prompted me to learn more and improve my skills,” Pratibha says.

Today, Pratibha prepares mushroom spawns, cultivates three types of mushrooms -- oyster, milky white and button, and makes value-added products and trains others. Her monthly turnover is Rs2 lakh.

Enhancing skills to become a master trainer

After her first attempt, she took a 15-day master trainer course in mushroom farming at the Pusa University in Delhi. “I did the course in 2017 and learned everything from making spawns to training others,” she says.

On returning to Darbhanga, she began three things simultaneously: making mushroom seeds, growing mushrooms and training others to become rural entrepreneurs, especially women.

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Spawn labs require a minimum of three equipment --laminar airflow (for sterilisation), autoclave (sterilizes mushroom substrate), and bod incubator (to test samples).

“I came back and started making spawn using minimum investment. I bought only a small autoclave and used a spirit lamp as a substitute for laminar to keep costs low. With this small set-up, I began making 10 kg seeds per day,” she says.

In January 2018, she started training people who came through the Darbhanga Agriculture Department. “Those who took training also bought the seeds from me at Rs100 per kg,” she adds.

Pratibha then began putting up stalls in exhibitions through universities and other government agencies. “With regular production, I began to make value-added products like pickles, snacks, papad, dried mushrooms and mushroom powder,” she says.

Earning throughout the year & training

Now she cultivates the three types of mushrooms throughout the year without any air conditioning set up. In October-November, she puts up bags for oyster mushrooms, which are ready for harvest after 21 to 22 days. The bags continue to give yield for 90 days from the day of fruiting. “A one kg bag will give 10kg of mushroom in all till January,” she says.

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Growing button mushrooms is a bit more time-consuming as the process of preparing compost (the medium for growth) starts in October. “After preparing the bags, the casing is done after 15 days. The time from spawning to fruiting stage is one month while it takes a total of 2.5 months from the composting stage to harvest stage,” she explains.

Button mushroom harvest is over by February-end or March first week after which the farmers can plant milky mushroom variety. It is planted beginning of March and gives returns till October, by when it’s time for oyster and button mushroom again, Pratibha says.

So by growing the three varieties, farmers can earn consistent annual income. While oysters and milky mushrooms sell at Rs150 per kg, the price for button mushrooms is Rs200 per kg.

At Pratibha’s home unit, the daily production of oyster and milky mushrooms is around 25 kg and 35 kg for button mushrooms during their respective seasons.

“All the production is sold within Darbhanga. The unsold produce is used to make value-added products like pickles and papads,” she says.

While oyster and milky mushroom powders sell at Rs1000 per kg, the pickle is priced at Rs600 per kg sold locally and in exhibitions. 

For training, Pratibha charges only Rs1000 per session, irrespective of the number of participants. “Many women are now earning independently after receiving training from me. Mushroom is a low investment business and a tool for financial empowerment of underprivileged people,” she says.

(Riya Singh is a Ranchi-based journalist who writes on environment, farming, sustainability, startups, & women empowerment)

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