Indore Woman Cultivates Mushroom From Stubble, Generates Monthly Sales Of Nearly Rs 20 Lakh

Delhi often grabs headlines for its smog, which is caused by pollution. The pollution is caused due to stubble burning in its neighbouring states that greatly impacts the Air Quality Index (AQI). While stubble burning has been a long-time problem, one woman from Indore turned it into an opportunity. She began mushroom cultivation from stubble and now offers healthy produce to the people. Pooja Dubey Pandey is a doctor from Indore who decided to cultivate mushrooms on a stubble farm. With her unique approach, she has improved her economic condition. Pooja is also helping people live a healthy life with her fresh produce. It was during her Delhi visit that she came across this brilliant idea. When she visited Delhi, she noticed the pollution and thought to herself why not turn this issue into an opportunity? She ended up contributing a bit towards a better environment and began mushroom cultivation. She is also training the youth, who can be her helping hand in this journey forward. She has been grabbing the headlines due to her initiative and is now earning good money out of this.

Dr Pooja Dubey Pandey opened a centre in Indore in 2017. The centre named BETi stands for

Biotech Era Transforming India, which was established for research and training. Its main goal is to provide reliable custom Spawn services and training to those who grow mushrooms in India. In 2019, her company became a DPIIT-certified startup under the Startup India initiative. The company has two directors, Pooja and Mr Pradeep Pandey.

Pooja put her 10 years of experience in research, academics and industry to start her Mushroom Spawn Production Laboratory, which also introduced skill and product development programs by offering training, internship and research projects to students.

In an interview, Mr Pradeep Pandey shared that BETi’s products are now exported to countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Japan. He revealed that currently, 25 people are employed with their startup business. While talking about his monthly turnover, he revealed that currently, it is Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh. And apart from mushroom cultivation, they also make biscuits, namkeen and other things.