Before being a full-fledged mushroom farmer, Nidhi Katare from Gwalior was a teacher of microbiology in college. However, in 2016, to the utter shock and heartbreak of Nidhi, the college was demolished! Nidhi, under whose supervision every science lab in the college was created, was left jobless and heartbroken. Instead of taking up another teaching job at a college, she decided to put what she taught into practice and created her own booming mushroom farm and she now earns ₹1.5 lakhs per month because of it!
Gwalior Teacher Turns Into Mushroom Farmer
As part of her syllabus, Nidhi taught the cultivation of mushrooms. She certainly never thought that she would be able to put it to such good use! Since she knew how to cultivate mushrooms, the genesis of her mushroom farm began to take shape.
She set up Natural Bioimpact and Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2017 and ordered mushroom spawns to grow in her 10×10 room. But alas! The yield was underwhelming. In an interview with The Better India, Nidhi said that the batch yielded 30 per cent less than it was supposed to.
She realised that the problem was the poor quality of spawn and decided that instead of buying spawn from other farmers, she would make some of her own! She used her ancestral home, which spanned 1,500 sq. ft., to set up her proverbial base of operations, her lab, for making mushroom spawn.
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Persistent Efforts Yielded Great Results
Since she started cultivating her own spawn, she gets as much as 150 kilogrammes of mushrooms every two months! She sells them fresh at ₹100 per kg. Nidhi also sells sun-dried mushrooms to pharmaceutical companies at ₹800 per kg.
She also sells her mushroom spawns to around 150 farmers in regions like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The innovative teacher has also ideated and sold innovative products like biscuits, papads, pickles, and even protein powder all made from her mushrooms!
Her husband, too, was supportive of Nidhi’s business venture and quit his full-time job to support it. It hasn’t always been easy but they managed to make it work. Nidhi hasn’t given up teaching as that is her passion. She still teaches the students of classes 11 and 12, who are all, without a doubt, really proud of her.
Also Read: Is Sweet Protein Found In Truffle Mushrooms A Healthy Alternative To Sugar?
Have you ever considered growing mushrooms? Do you enjoy eating mushrooms? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover Image Credits: @Natural Bioimpact & Research Pvt.Ltd/Facebook