Lal Muni Devi, the challenge was to survive on her farming skills
without having any land of her own to plough. So the poor, uneducated
woman from Azad Nagar village in Patna district used her dank, thatched
house to grow mushrooms.
And now she is in a Mexican gallery of top farmers from Asia. A
photograph of Lal Muni and the story of her achievement have been put on
the website of CIMMYT (www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/
2006/feb/whats_wheat.htm), a well-known Mexican institute engaged in
research for improvement of maize and wheat crop.
"I have heard that my photo has been published in America. I want
to see it," said Lal Muni, who wanted to know how she could go to
America to see her photo.
Till four years back, Lal Muni used to work for other farmers as a
daily labourer. Then instructors from Indian Institute for Agricultural
Research (ICAR) brought together 25 women from the village and taught
them how to grow mushrooms.
Lal Muni says what made her happy was that she did not need any
land to grow mushrooms, a plant she had never even heard of till the
ICRA training. It also helped that market was easily available in nearby
Patna city.
"I learnt that I could grow mushrooms them in my house and later
found that they earned good profit too," she says with a broad smile.
The reason why she got a compliment from a wheat-promotion agency
is that balls of wheat husk are used for growing the mushrooms. Packed
in plastic bags, the balls hang in rows under her thatched roof,
nourishing the oyster mushroom shoots in the humid setting.
For the first two years, ICAR provided free seeds but now the
women buy it at Rs 60 a kg. "One kilogram of seed yields 10-14 kg of
mushroom. The winter variety sells at Rs 50-60 per kg while in summer
they get Rs 80-120," said A R Khan, principal scientist at ICAR in
Patna.
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.7dSHi5tB.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.7dSHi5tB.dpuf
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.7dSHi5tB.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.7dSHi5tB.dpuf
Surviving on your farming skills without owning any land isn’t easy. But poor, uneducated farm hand Lal Muni Devi, 51, has worked out a solution by growing oyster mushrooms in her thatched house in Azad Nagar village, Patna, making about Rs 4,000
every month. She now features in the list of Top Inspirational Farmers
from Asia of International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre, Mexico.
Recently, a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also came
to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. A role model for many
unemployed farm labourers, Devi tells Harmony, “Mushroom farming isn’t hard work, though it needs a lot of care like regular water spraying.
source :the Indian Express
Featured in Harmony Magazine
April 2007
source :the Indian Express
Featured in Harmony Magazine
April 2007
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpu
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpu
It takes just three months for the crop to be ready and it can be grown round the year with a little bit of care.
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
But of the 25 women, at least half quit after ICAR stopped providing free seeds. "I had left growing the mushrooms, but I will now start again and become like Lal Muni," says Nirmala Devi of the same village.
Many men from the village are also picking up farming after seeing the price mushrooms fetch.
Khan said recently a team from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation came to Azad Nagar to meet Lal Muni and other farmers. The foundation run by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has shown interest in agricultural projects in the state that target poor farmers.
- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meet--inspirational--lal-muni-devi-from-patna/24931/2#sthash.R4k7IYv2.dpuf
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