SUCCESS STORY - MUSHROOM CULTIVATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD

Background information

Smt. Milan Namasudra of village Tarapur Pt. VII of Tarapur Gaon Panchayat under Silchar Development Block is now a successful mushroom farmar. She always wanted to find a better way to get answers to her pressing family need but due to her financial inability it was not possible for her earlier. The BMMU Silchar identified her need and motivated her to take up the mushroom cultivation, which requires low investment.

Mushroom and sustainable livelihoods

Mushroom cultivation can directly improve livelihoods through economic, nutritional and medicinal contributions. Mushroom cultivation can help reduce vulnerability to poverty and strengthens livelihoods through the generation of a fast yielding and nutritious source of food and a reliable source of income. Since it does not require access to land, mushroom cultivation is a viable and attractive activity for both rural farmers and peri-urban dwellers.

Description of technology

#Use of quality spawns within one month.

#Treatment of straw with hot water.

#Raising technique of mushroom bed.

#Watering technique.

#Plucking technique/ harvesting technique.

Success points

Now she is a successful entrepreneur and became a role model to other women in the village as well as in other villages. She became a master trainer in her own Gaon Panchayat and in Silchar Development Block.

Outcome

She has motivated more than 15 nos. of women from SHGs of Ambicapur, Baghadahar Borjurai and Tupkhana Gaon Panchayat of the said Block and mobilized them for taking up entrepreneurship activities on mushroom. She also felicitated and declared progressive farmar in the field of mushroom cultivation in a programme organized by KVK Cachar for her significant contribution in areas of mushroom production throughout year.

No. of Cylinder - 500

Production (qtl) - 7.5

Expenditure - 30,000

Income - 90,000

Profit - 60,000

MONIKA SUKLABAIDYA – AN EPITOME OF SUCCESS!!

Monika Suklabaidya is a member of Agragrami Mohila SHG bearing MIS code 154366 of Kanakpur GP, Village- Kanakpur Pt.I under BMMU Silchar Development Block, Assam State Rural Livelihood Mission. 

Majorly, she is engaged in making Bhujia, Bundia, Chira Bhaja, Nimki and Dry Masala Samosa. She had received proper formal training in the year 2014 from a local vendor who was also engaged in making such products. Later, she had started her own establishment in the year 2015, as her family faced a severe financial crisis due to loss of work of her husband. Initially, it took time for her to grab the local market as she was new in the production of such food products and already other established vendors existed in her locality. During 2015-2017, she had a steady growth her business with an average daily production and sale of 60 to 70 packets daily at a profit of Rs 3 per packet approximately. 

By the end of 2017, her business started to show enormous growth rate.  Presently, she is producing 900-1000 packets per day and sells them at a profit of Rs. 2 per packet approximately. The wholesale rate of a single food packet is Rs. 8, which is then sold by the retailer at Rs. 10. Her major customers now are Health care Institutes across Silchar and the grocery shops, which make bulk purchase from her. 

With the profit she has procured from her business and finance from Bajaj in the year 2019, she bought an E-Rickshaw. Her husband who was unemployed earlier is now engaged in driving the E-Rickshaw in the stretch of Kanakpur GP area and also helps her in delivering her food products to the customers. 

Her SHG received KAMS RF of Rs. 10000 and another Rs 5000 from NRLM. Recently, her SHG has availed a loan of Rs. 120000 from Canara Bank Silchar Branch. Apart from that, she personally availed a loan of Rs. 50000 from Syndicate Bank in the year 2019. The banks are also happy with her repayment schedule as she didn’t miss a single monthly EMI and are ready to sanction another loan as soon as she completes repayment of her existing loan.

Seeing her hardwork and dedication towards her business development, Block Project Manager Mr. Pervez Sultan Mazumder, Block Coordinator Mr. Biswajit Bhattacharjee and Ronit Dey has taken an initiative and encouraged her in branding her product. After thorough discussion and seeing the probability of her business growth, the combined efforts of Monika Suklabaidya and BMMU Silchar has resulted in launching of her products under the brand name “Tuki-Taki”  with a tagline, “Sokal-sondhya chayer saathe Tuki-Taki”. 

BMMU Silchar hopes that Monika Suklabaidya will continue in her zeal towards her business development under this branding of Tuki-Taki in the days to come. She has really proved herself as an epitome of success. Her story is an example and inspiration for all the independent women working not only in SHGs but in every other sector.