The interviews and reporting for this story were conducted in January 2024.

Born in a Rajasthan village, Shanker Meena spent his childhood playing amid wheat and mustard crops. But as he grew up, he saw his father toil day and night to cultivate those crops that would get damaged due to the wrath of nature, resulting in low crop yield and thereby uncertain earnings.

To tap into a stable income, he went on to complete his higher studies in commerce and subsequently joined RA Podar Institute of Management to pursue a career in finance. However, Shanker dropped out of the college right after the completion of his first semester in 2012.

“Although I took the admission, back in my mind, I would always think about new business ideas. My heart belonged to farming. So, I wanted to explore a way to amalgamate farming and business,” the MBA dropout tells The Better India.

A couple of years later, Shanker fulfilled his dream by launching his company ‘Jeevan Mushroom’ where he sells spawns of a wide range of mushrooms including button, oyster, lion’s mane, paddy straw, shiitake, ganoderma, portobello, and more.

Today, he has established a huge market base not only in India but also abroad where he exports his produce to neighbouring countries including Bhutan and Nepal, and the UAE. Currently, his monthly revenue stands at Rs 13 lakh.

Mushrooming ideas

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