From working in an NGO on human trafficking to becoming the first woman to cultivate a variety of the valuable Keeda Jadi (cordyceps militaris) in the laboratory in Uttarakhand, launching her own enterprise, cultivating mushrooms and training others, Divya Rawat has come a long way. Also known popularly as the mushroom girl of Uttarakhand, Divya has not only set up an enterprise cultivating and marketing mushrooms but also trains people from across India in mushroom cultivation as a means of becoming economically self reliant which in turn mitigates the migration of people from the mountainous regions of the State. Talking to The Pioneer, the 26-year old entrepreneur shared details of her journey so far after returning to Dehradun from Delhi after her education and a brief stint in an NGO.

She said, “After completion of my post graduate degree in social work, I started to work in an NGO on the issue of human trafficking. At that time, I saw many people of Dehradun working for very low wages in Delhi. That made me think of how to stop migration of people from Uttarakhand to other places where they work for a pittance. However, the viable means to hold the people back in their home State was missing. I researched for some time and found mushroom cultivation to be the most viable activity for income generation.”

Now hundreds of people are connected to her through her company Soumya Foods Private Limited. She not only trains people in mushroom cultivation but also buys their produce.

When asked about why she chose mushroom and how many people are connected to this she said, “While researching I found out that while most vegetables sell for about Rs 8-10 per kg providing limited profit to the producer, mushroom sells in the range of Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kg and provides a good profit margin. There are many people into mushroom cultivation now. About 20 people work in our laboratory and there are hundreds of other people who are getting trained to grow mushrooms. The number of such people is increasing consistently.”

The annual income of Divya’s company is in crores of rupees per annum. Those working under her ear between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month and sometimes more depending on the quantity of mushroom yield. Her company Soumya Foods Private Limited not only trains people but also assists those in need to start mushroom cultivation.

However, her journey has not been easy. Talking about difficulties while establishing the setup she said, “I faced problem in convincing my parents about my decision though they finally agreed.They supported me a lot and helped me to start this set up.

The other problem was the mindset of people as being young and with ideas not popular at the time in the mainstream of male dominated world, some elements in society try to drag you down. But, I was determined enough and finally succeeded.”

In the field of mushroom cultivation for about six years, she now cultivates various types of mushrooms including button, oyster and milky mushrooms though the most expensive is Keeda Jadi (cordyceps militaris). She said, “Keeda Jadi has a global market due to its various medicinal properties. It is valued at about Rs 15 lakh per kilogramme. In Uttrakhand, the market is slow in comparison to other States. It requires patience and investment but there is always profit. In the future, we are planning to start a chain of our firm in various States with the headquarters in Uttarakhand. This will help people to contact us for buying and selling purposes too.”

Divya Rawat has been awarded for her work at national as well as State levels. The prestigious Nari Shakti Puruskar was given to her by the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in 2016. The horticulture department of Uttarakhand Government presented the Udyan Pandit Puraskar to her. Giving a message to everyone she said, “I am an example of reverse migration. Earning well at home is better than the other options. The youth nowadays are more into earning by shortcuts and no one wants to leave his/her comfort zone.

There is scope in everything but shortcuts never help in the long term. With utmost dedication and hard work nothing is impossible. One should work hard to achieve the goal.”