Mushroom farming empowers ethnic women in hilly areas

Nipu Tripura — a small grocer — landed in a sea of troubles in generating income enough for her family when Covid-19 pandemic hammered her district Khagrachhari first.

Nipu said when Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the hill district in April last year, the income of the shop decreased drastically. Her husband, a farmer in the hill, was not able to run the family with his little income. She became desperate to do something for her family. While searching the options, Nipu learned about mushroom cultivation from YouTube. She thought she would run the business.

At first, she pursued a three-month course on edible mushroom cultivation at ‘Ulubabu Mushroom Centre’ in Khabangpuria of the district.

After completing the training, she started mushroom cultivation on her own land in Thakurchhara area with 2,000 packets.

Later, she took training from ‘Dream Mushroom Centre’ in Magura and started growing the vegetable.

She earned Tk 5 lakh in a year from the cultivation at first.

By taking to mushroom farming in a big way, many women in the area dreamt of farming the vegetable and they met Nipu. She inspired them to be self-dependent by cultivating mushrooms.

Taking advice from Nipu, many women in the district are now becoming solvent doing the business.

Nipu is now respected for earning money and has contributed to a positive change in the socio-economic condition of many families in the hill.

“Mushroom cultivation has not only empowered me but also some other women in the district, it has given a boost to our rural economy,” said Nipu.

“I have earned Tk 9 lakh in the last year from the business and am happy with my four family members,” Nipu also said.

Nipu’s words sound convincing, as she has single-handedly changed her own fortune and other women through farming. She is now well-known for motivating, inspiring and engaging a number of women to grow mushrooms in the region.

When she started her journey to grow mushrooms in 2020, the scenario was difficult.  It was a totally new concept in her village.

“When I was desperate to scrape a living, I approached   ‘Ulubabu Mushroom Centre’. The officials advised me to grow mushrooms. After that I began my new journey of success,” Nipu added.

But now Nipu leads a happy and solvent life by cultivating organic mushrooms on her own land. Her business has grown bigger, prompting her to appoint five poor women in her mushroom centre. Now, they are solvent too.

Sadika Tripura, one of her employees, said, “Previously, it was very difficult for me to run my family because of the financial crisis. After taking the job at the mushroom centre of Nipu, I am now leading a happy life.”

When contacted, Murtoza Ali, deputy director of Khagrachhari Agricultural Extension Department, said women entrepreneurs in the region should follow the example of Nipu.