National Cooperative Union of India and its Japanese Counterpart Jazenchu are leading a quiet revolution in the bedrooms of some of the residents of Bilaspur in Himanchal Pradesh by promoting mushroom cultivation.
Aimed primarily at empowering woman-folks in the backward district the project has become an instant hit with women reporting steady monthly income in the range of Rs 3000-4000. The Chief Executive of NCUI, Dr Dinesh claimed some women earn even more.
The project was conceived by NCUI and was partly funded by Japan’s apex cooperative JAZENCHU. A delegation of the Japanese cooperative along with NCUI’s Dr Dinesh and some others recently visited Bilaspur to have firsthand knowledge of the mushroom cultivation. They were impressed by what they saw, said Dr Dinesh to Indian Cooperative.
The novel project involves about 50 women who were imparted intensive training in the government training college in Solan. It was a residential training but the steely women subscribed to it and carried through the programme-some with their husbands.
Soon after the training they began to grow mushroom in their bedrooms. Their produce is being sold at a much cheaper rate compared to the market. They sell it at Rs 100-150 per kg while the same sells at Rs 300 in Chandigarh and other places.
But what fills us with pride is the social revolution being ushered in by the mushroom cultivation. With women becoming the bread-earners of families, the matrix of relationship is getting redefined in society, said Dr Dinesh.
