In India more than 50% households are involved in agriculture for their livelihood. But majority of Indian youth isn’t interested in this field of work as they have a perception of farming being antiquated and unprofitable.
Vikas Verma of Hisar is a young progressive mushroom farmer & has proved the above notion wrong. He processes the mushrooms to make value added products out of them like Mushroom biscuits, papad, pickles etc. “Farming is a very profitable business. You just have to have the urge to do something and a new idea in your mind” says Vikas Verma.
Vikas Verma started mushroom cultivation for better income 6 years ago. In his early days, he faced multiple problems including not getting proper prices for his produce. Vikas was not able to sell his mushroom for more than Rs 100 a kg & sometimes as low as Rs 60 a kg. Mushrooms don’t have a long shelf-life and therefore, Vikas had to sell it as soon as possible at whatever prices he used to get. He decided to do something about it. And that is when the idea of processing mushrooms to increase their shelf life came to his mind.
Vikas Makes Biscuits, Badi, Papad and Pickles from Mushrooms:
The idea of processing mushrooms came to his mind but he didn’t have appropriate knowledge about it. So, he reached out to Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University to learn mushroom processing. CCSHAU is one of the best mushroom farming training institute.
The Agri Business Incubation Center located in the university taught Vikas the skill of making mushroom biscuits, badi, papad, pickle and other products. Here, Vikas was also taught the importance of branding, packaging and marketing.
Processing Helped Him Increase Profits By 10 Times
Vikas Verma says that after getting help from the university, he started making 10 times more profit. Processing can extend the life of our mushroom products and store them for several days. Vikas tells “There is a lot of demand for different products of mushroom & therefore, a huge market for processed mushrooms.”
Actually, Vikas grows 3 types of mushrooms. Currently, the season is best for button mushroom and will last till March. After that the time of cultivation of Oyster and Milky Mushroom will come. After getting help from the incubation center, Vikas Verma has started a startup and is also doing digital marketing of his products.
Vikas is a true example of a progressive farmer, who is not only increasing his earnings from mushroom cultivation but is also giving employment to others.
