With Rs2000 investment, this Andhra man earns Rs 25,000 daily from milky mushrooms

When Jayachand Thota was a kid, he eagerly looked forward to the rains. Monsoon season was when flavourful milky mushrooms would be available in the local markets of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

“A 200gm packet would cost Rs5 and I loved eating them in curries, rice and savouries,” says Jayanchad, who studied BSc (Agriculture). His father had a transport business and Jayachand had seen the struggles involved in driving, maintaining vehicles, servicing the customers etc. He did not want to do the same.

“I wanted to be self-employed like him but with something that did not require heavy investment or too much travel. Mushroom farming is a low-investment business and it was my first choice,” he tells 30Stades.

Early steps in mushroom farming

“So after graduating from the Andhra Loyola College, I took training in mushroom farming from the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in Bengaluru. I bought milky mushroom spawns from there to grow them at my house,” he says.

Milky mushrooms grow well in temperatures between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius and can be cultivated throughout the year in tropical areas, unlike button mushrooms which require cool weather or air-conditioning. 

Milky mushrooms can also be stored for up to 10 days and withstand temperatures between 28 to 40 degrees Celsius.

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In 2005, Jayachand invested Rs 2,000 in purchasing milky mushroom spawns (seeds), polythene bags, paddy straw etc. “I bought 5kg seeds from IIHR at Rs80 per kg. I prepared 40 bags of milky mushrooms using these seeds and put them in a small room of 10ft X 10ft in the house,” Jayachand recollects.

Due to lack of experience, the first batch was contaminated and he could not sell anything in the market. When the second batch was contaminated, he decided to become an apprentice with one of his distant relatives who ran a mushroom production unit in Vijaywada.

“That was the turning point in my life. I worked with him for over two years, learning everything about growing mushrooms, harvesting them and selling them in the market,” he says. 

That gave him the confidence to re-start and he set up Thanusri Mushrooms in 2007.

Success with mushrooms 

Jayachand set up a small shed near his house and purchased 50 kg of spawn from IIHR. “The growing medium for milky mushrooms is paddy straw. We soak the paddy straw in water for 24 hours and then add spawn to the straw. This requires lower investment than button mushroom where preparing compost is more time-consuming,” he says.

After 21 days, tiny mushroom heads appear and grow for the next 10 days. “The first crop is ready in a total of 31 days. One bag will give ten harvests over the next 30 days.” 

The total cycle from preparing milky mushroom bags to the final harvest is 60 days, he says.

He sold the harvest to customers he had become familiar with while learning mushroom cultivation. There was no looking back from then on.

Also Read: How this Bihar entrepreneur earns Rs2 lakh daily from mushroom farming

Jayachand continued to buy spawns from IIHR for a few years. “But it is about 1000km from my place and it was time-consuming to go there every month. So I started preparing spawns or seeds at my unit,” says Jayachand, who studied tissue culture and allied subjects during graduation. He also took training in spawn seed preparation from ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), Solan.

The business of milky mushrooms

Jayachand’s unit is now divided into two parts. “The dark room is 15ft X 20ft and the light room is 20ft X 20ft,” he explains. 

The inoculated bags are kept in the darkroom where the mycelium colonises the substrate. This incubation usually takes about 20 days. The beds are shifted to a light room for the further growth of mushrooms. Proper lighting facilities and aeration are provided and harvesting is done here.

“I harvest 70 kg to 100 kg of milky white mushrooms daily, selling them between Rs250 and Rs 350 per kg depending on the demand. My daily income from mushrooms is an average of Rs25,000 or Rs7.5 lakh a month,” he says.

Customers pick up the mushrooms directly from his farm. “They have to place orders in advance for procurement. I also send bigger orders through trucks,” he says.

Jayachand also prepares spawns or seeds in his lab, which has a laminar airflow cabinet to provide a sterile working environment, vertical autoclaves (top-loading top-loading sterilizers), a seed germination chamber and an incubator among other equipment. 

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“I prepare 100 kg of mushroom seeds or spawns daily. They are bought by mushroom farmers and I also share them with my students who take training,” the entrepreneur says.

An interesting aspect of Jayachand’s training is that he has helped people in India, Dubai and South Africa set up mushroom farms. He gives training in the cultivation of button mushrooms as well.

“I have trained over 5,000 people in the last 15 years. They include farmers, students, agripreneurs, women and others,” he says.

“The basic training is free. After that, those who want to set up their mushroom production units can take advanced training for which I charge Rs3,000 and give spawns and other materials as well,” Jayachand says.

Anyone can start with a low investment and become self-employed, he says. “I also help people with the marketing of their mushrooms.” 

Jayachand aims to train as many people as possible. “Mushroom farming is a good source of income with low investment. With a growing demand, it presents good income-generating opportunities,” he adds.

(Rashmi Pratap is a Mumbai-based journalist specialising in business, financial, and socio-economic reporting)

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