Slum women trained to grow mushrooms

A group of women are busy working inside a hut located at the rear end of Ethiraj College campus in Egmore. The college administration has given a part of the vacant space for cultivation of oyster mushrooms and these women from underprivileged backgrounds are trained by experts under project Enactus Ethiraj, that was started last year. 

Enactus Ethiraj is a part of Enactus International that promotes social entrepreneurship in students by encouraging them to set up independent and sustainable business ventures for underprivileged communities. 

“Our recent project enables underprivileged women to cultivate FSSAI certified oyster mushrooms and market it to the health food market,” says Tejna S., president of the club. In the first leg of the project, eight women from Thideer Nagar slum were trained by an expert and once they grew the mushrooms, they were given monthly salaries for it. 

The students from Enactus Ethiraj along with representatives of Equitas, a microfinance group working with people from low-income groups, approached them and offered them employment opportunities. After understanding the basics of growing mushrooms in a controlled environment, these women have now become trainers for other women from Pudupet.  

“We’ve already completed two cycles and the third cycle is in progress. In the first cycle we got a yield of 409 kg and in the second we got a yield of 200 kg. The yield of the third cycle will be harvested in a week or two. 

The women from Thideer Nagar were given training by qualified trainers on various aspects of entrepreneurship in order to promote holistic development,” said B. Rami, Vice President of the club. 

Explaining the process of growing mushrooms, R. Srinidhi, General Secretary of the club, says, “These mushrooms are grown in plastic packets in controlled temperatures as humidity is an important deciding factor. We keep a close watch on the produce as well. 

After the mushrooms are harvested, we shift them to a separate room where all the packing is done.” They plan to develop a model where they can train more women and eventually make it an independent venture. 

”We are also starting other business ventures with other communities simultaneously,” she concludes.