“I want to do something on my own; you get me a loan and I will expand my mushroom business and prove my mettle to the world.” –
Says 19-year-old Rahul Bhokta via a phone call.
Gauging by his statement one can clearly see that Rahul has lots of drive and a daring vision for his future. So, it can come as quite a big surprise to know that Rahul has had visual impairment since birth.
Rahul is from Pipra Village, Sonraithari Block, Deoghar District of Jharkhand. He has a disability card and Aadhar card. He gets a disability pension of Rs. 1000. His father is a farmer and he has two elder brothers; one of whom is married and works in Deoghar, while the other is unmarried and works in the village itself.
Even though Rahul belonged to an upper caste (Brahmin), financially well-off family owning agricultural land, he had never been out of his village because of his disability. He even stopped his education after 7th class due to lack of proper educational facilities for the blind in his area.
With little belief that the disabled can have a life of their own, he used to work around the family’s farm, wanting to contribute as much as he could in the household and devoted himself to singing devotional songs in the village temple for free to escape his mundane life. When asked, ‘Why don’t you charge for it? He replied, “No, I don’t sing for money, though some people I know do sing and earn up to Rs 15000 doing that, I do it only for god.”
Life was going along in this fashion when a knock on his door by Kumar Mahavir and Rohit Kumar Das opened up some avenues.
Mahavir, a Javed Abidi- NCPEDP Fellow on Disability, and Rohit, President of Jila Divyang Manch, were doing a mobilization drive for mushroom training by RSETI for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
They met Rahul and his family and convinced them to send him for the 10-day training program, saying that it was an activity that he can pursue on his own. Hesitant initially, he got convinced to join the program after his friend Santosh, who was disabled as well, told him that he would give him company there.
Whatever his expectations might have been, Rahul certainly didn’t expect that he would enjoy the program that much. During the training, Rahul was exposed to a world that he had never had access to—a space where a promising future was not a dream but a close reality.
Once cognizant of the opportunities, Rahul couldn’t be held back. He got the certification and decided to jump in directly into entrepreneurship with a small mushroom enterprise.
Inputs
He bought 5 kgs of oyster mushroom variety of seeds. Unlike other varieties like button mushrooms, this type is less riskier, takes less time to cultivate than others. It is also easier to cultivate in a smaller space as well. Rahul rented a small room for cultivating the mushroom.
- 5 kg oyster mushroom seeds – Rs. 120 per kg
- Fodder
- Mud
- Chemical – Formalin Rs 150 per litre and Carbendazim Rs 150 per litre
- Plastic bags
- Garden sprayer
- Rent for room – Rs. 1200
- 1 labour for watering purposes – Rs. 100 per day @ 26 days
Process
The process for cultivation of mushrooms varies depending on the variety of mushrooms grown. In the case of oyster mushrooms, Rahul has had to place the seeds in a slightly-wet mud layer and apply a bit of chemicals to the mixture. Then, add a layer of fodder (dry grass) on top to ensure that the mud doesn’t fall out and make it into a nest-like structure. It is then placed in a plastic bag that has medium-sized holes for aeration and for sprouting out of mushrooms during harvesting—Rahul is a pro at making these structures on his own.
After making the structures, Rahul sought his brother’s help in tying the bags to the ceiling. After the initial bit of labour, the only work that needed to be done was to water the mushrooms twice everyday—for this he took the help of a daily labour who used a garden sprayer to sprinkle water on the bags; too much water can be bad for the mushrooms.
“I put in an investment of Rs. 6000 including paying the daily labour, chemicals, seeds and rent and harvested the mushrooms in 26 days and harvested 10 kg of mushrooms.” Rahul shares with enthusiasm.
Market
Though 1 kg of oyster mushroom costs around Rs. 150 in a supermarket, there is not yet a market in the local area. Rahul explains, “There is a general perception that mushrooms are unhygienic, which is completely false. People here are yet to know that it is a great source of protein.”
To counter this, Rahul decided to start by selling the mushrooms at a lesser price to his relatives and friends. He also sold it to important people in the village including the Village Secretary to develop a taste for mushrooms in the area. He also marketed his product on social media with the help of his brother.
Even with a low market, Rahul managed to get a profit of Rs. 1500 in 1 month.
Future of possibilities
However, Rahul dreams of a bigger unit, which he feels that will get him better profits and make it a sustainable enterprise. Rahul is taking the help of Mahavir to develop a market linkage. He requires a regular supply of quality seeds to be able to continue cultivating his dream.
Rahul needs to take a bigger room on rent and cultivate up to 25 kgs of mushrooms. He wants to apply for a loan of Rs. 1 lakh under the Mukhyamantri Rojgar Srijan Yojana in Jharkhand, which provides a loan of up to Rs 25 lakh to youth for starting businesses and also provides a subsidy of 40% to PWDs.
“I am planning to grow the milky mushroom variety as well as button mushroom variety, which is more popular, takes less time, but is a little bit more risky,” informs Rahul.
He is taking the help of Mahavir to apply for the loan; however, since he hasn’t got a PAN card yet, the process is getting delayed. Mahavir says, “Rahul’s excitement about his future is infectious. But I don’t want him to bite more than he can chew. He needs to go on some exposure visits and continue farming on a small scale for sometime before he can plunge further.” But Rahul is waiting to start a bigger unit immediately—his thirst to prove himself can be observed here.
Whether Rahul will fulfil his dream of starting a full-fledged mushroom enterprise in the future and succeed at it is something only time will tell, but this story does open up possibilities for PWDs—isn’t this in itself a cause for much celebration?