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Nidhi’s Inspiring Journey : Once upon a time, there was a lady named Nidhi Katare. She used to teach in a college. But one day, something unexpected happened. Her college got destroyed, and her heart was broken.
Nidhi had worked hard to set up science labs in that college. But the land was valuable, so they demolished it. She felt like her ten years of work went to waste. This sad event made her want to start her own thing.
Even though other colleges offered her jobs, she chose a different path. She decided to start a business, growing mushrooms. Now, her business makes her a lot of money, around Rs 1.5 lakh every month.
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Mushroom Business
Nidhi grew up in Uttar Pradesh and studied microbiology. In 2007, she began teaching at a college in Gwalior. She taught her students how to grow mushrooms, but she never thought it could be a job.
In 2017, she started her company called Natural Bio Impact and Research Pvt Ltd. With just Rs 3,000, she bought some mushroom seeds and tried growing them in a small room. But things didn’t go as planned. She got less mushrooms than she expected.
At first, Nidhi had to buy mushroom seeds from other places, and they weren’t very good. The seeds would often be damaged or have fungus. This made her mushrooms not grow well.
But Nidhi didn’t give up. She decided to do it herself. She turned her family’s old house into a lab. She learned how to make good mushroom seeds. She explained, “We boiled wheat and barley straws, sterilized them, and put them in packets. After a few days, a white fungus grew on them, and that’s how we made the seeds.”
Nidhi also shared some tips. She said some farmers take shortcuts, but that’s not good. If you do it right, you get better mushrooms. She grows oyster mushrooms, which are good for health.
Now, Nidhi doesn’t just grow mushrooms for herself. She also sells mushroom seeds to farmers in different places like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
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Mushroom Farming Business
Besides fresh and dried mushrooms, Nidhi makes other things like mushroom papads, pickles, biscuits, and protein powder. All these products help her earn Rs 1.5 lakh every month.
Nidhi still loves teaching, so she teaches biology to students. Her husband, Sanjay, supports her a lot. He used to work at Reliance but quit to help with the business. It was a tough decision, but it paid off.
They faced challenges, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they got a boost because pharmaceutical companies needed more mushrooms. Nidhi feels empowered now. She’s not dependent on anyone else, and she’s built something for the future.
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