Gold Medalist Professor Leaves Prestigious College Career to Become Mushroom Farmer, Makes ₹50 Lakh Annually

When Trupti Dhakate decided to leave her academic career and pursue mushroom farming, her family was thoroughly unimpressed. She was a gold medalist from Nagpur University working as a Microbiology Professor. But she wanted to start a mushroom farm because she fell in love with mushroom cultivation.

She visited the vegetable market to talk with sellers and customers who were clearly not interested in mushrooms. Some thought it was a non-veg item, others thought mushrooms to be a low-grade non-nutritious food. From spreading awareness about mushrooms to promoting her brand through word-of-mouth publicity, Trupti was determined to do whatever it took to establish herself as a mushroom farmer.

In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, Maharashtra’s Trupti Dhakate shared her incredible journey from being a gold medalist in Microbiology to becoming a mushroom farmer. The lady entrepreneur traded her academic prestige and donned a farmer’s hat only out of a burning passion to “grow some nutritious food” for people.

Professor turns to a farmer

Trupti Dhakate opened up about her love for mushrooms, her journey from a prestigious college career to starting as an entrepreneur, and how she is now empowering hundreds of women through seminars, and workshops, and being an example herself.

“After marriage, I moved to Sambhaji Nagar with my husband,” the mushroom farmer shared. “I worked with AgriGen Biotech between 2014 and 2016. There, I got first-hand experience in research and cultivation of oyster and milky mushroom varieties.”

In 2016, her husband was transferred to Pune. Apart from researching mushroom cultivation, she also researched agriculture in general, biopesticides, biofertilizers, etc. that came to use later when she started her mushroom brand. She attended any and every seminar or workshop related to mushroom farming.

She started reading several research papers on mushrooms and learned the various health benefits of mushrooms. Trupti dreamed of starting a farm and bringing nutritious mushrooms to every home.

“Although I cleared the SET and GATE exams, I was so passionate about mushroom cultivation that I decided to be an entrepreneur,” the woman farmer told Startup Pedia.

After two years of research, she was confident of starting a business. However, her husband and parents did not like the idea of leaving the illustrious academic career and switching to an ordinary farming career.

“Why would people buy mushrooms from you?” her family asked. “Besides how could an academically inclined woman pursue a farming career?”

For Trupti, these questions were best to be left unanswered for the moment. She wanted to dive into the chosen field and see for herself.

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The Quality Mushroom Farm

She took a 2,000 sq ft of land on lease in a commercial area in suburban Pune. It was a concrete structure in which she made an incubation room, a sterilization area, and a mushroom growing room investing around Rs. 4 lakh. Initially, Trupti procured mushroom spawns (seeds) from an agriculture university and started with 20 beds.

“They resulted in 10 kg of production after 22 days followed by another 7 kg after eight days and the third and final flush after 15 days,” the Pune startup founder informed. “The total output was 20 kg in three harvests in 45 days,” she added.

If prepared well, each bed, on average, gives one kg of oyster mushroom in three batches spread over 45 days. The mushroom entrepreneur would spend her mornings and evenings in vegetable markets of suburban Pune, requesting passerby buyers to sample her oyster mushroom curry. Her family was not happy with her visiting the local market and trying to sell her produce.

Initially, she had to face a lot of challenges. From regularly visiting the vegetable market to promoting her farm-made mushrooms to holding patience, and making people aware of the health benefits of mushrooms, it was a tough path to walk on.

But the lady professor was determined. Though she had intensively researched mushroom cultivation, practical application, especially grasping the commercial aspects, took time.

“I started being active on social media to promote mushrooms,” the lady entrepreneur disclosed to Startup Pedia. “That led to home delivery orders and my business began to grow under the Quality Mushroom brand.”

From an initial investment of about four lakhs, she had to invest another fifteen lakhs to build her farm.

Established in 2018, Quality Mushroom Farm specializes in Oyster Mushrooms, milky mushrooms, and other breeds. With fifteen employees and an annual turnover of around 50 lakhs, the mushroom farm owner has come a long way.

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Mushroom cultivation

Oyster mushrooms thrive at moderate temperatures between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius and humidity of about 55 to 70 percent. Trupti continues to procure spawns from agriculture universities.

“We cultivate oyster mushrooms all through the year,” shared Trupti. “AC is required in the incubation room only during summer.”

On her farm, milky mushrooms are cultivated from February to August as it requires a higher temperature of around 30 to 35 degrees Celsius.

“Our daily mushroom output is 50kg and we retail it for Rs400 per kg,” mushroom cultivator Trupti told Startup Pedia. “Obviously, the wholesale rate is lower.”

Quality Mushroom Farm’s well-loved items are cookies, khakhras, papad, and biscuits, available in retail stores and for bulk purchases in Pune. The products can be bought online all around India.

Trupti’s career takes a new direction during the pandemic

The year 2020 gave a new direction to Trupti’s entrepreneurial side. As the pandemic hit the globe and people mostly stayed indoors, she was approached by institutions to provide commercial training online.

Also, she started receiving guest lecture offers from colleges. She regularly conducted webinars on the subject, increasing the popularity of her mushroom brand.

“Since the sales of fresh produce were down, I started making value-added products like mushroom-made papads, bread, khakhras, biscuits, cookies, etc. I started giving home delivery of these products that made good business during COVID-19,” the founder of Quality Mushroom Farm remarked.

Training mushroom growers

Trupti conducts training for mushroom farmers. She gives online and offline training about mushroom cultivation and how to set up mushroom farms in a small area with minimum investment.

“Never compromise on quality! I tell those who receive training from me,” the Quality Mushroom Farm’s founder told Startup Pedia. “Whatever business you’re in, you should have a burning passion. Then you won’t compromise on the quality of products for money!” She added, “In-depth research on the field I was passionate about plus holding patience especially when it was too challenging for me is what brought me here.”

Using farm waste to control pollution

Maharashtra’s “Mushroom Magician” Trupti Dhakate is also concerned about the harmful effects of burning farming waste. Coming from an academic background, she is aware of air pollution and its impact on farmers and surrounding communities.

“I thought, why not use the farm waste to grow something nutritious like mushrooms? Not only would it reduce pollution, but it would also offer farmers a way to grow some food and earn money,” the Pune startup founder told exclusively to Startup Pedia.

Today, Trupti’s Quality Mushroom Farm produces almost 120 tons of vermicompost and vermiwash of high-grade quality.

In 2020-end, the Mushroom entrepreneur took 10,000 sq ft of land on lease in Umbare village on the Pune-Satara road for doing vermicomposting with the spent mushroom beds, to make her farm a zero-waste enterprise.

About 4,000 sq ft in Trupti’s new facility is used for mushroom farming on 100 beds. On the other hand, she uses 2,000 sq ft for preparing vermicompost. The remaining area houses an office, seminar hall, etc.

Pune’s Mushroom Magician uses the waste mushroom beds after harvest.

“Most growers discard the leftover beds, called mushroom spent beds, but we make vermicompost. We add cow dung slurry and do layering and add earthworms to prepare vermicompost,” the Maharashtra mushroom cultivator said. “A spent bed of 12 ft will yield one tonne of waste and 400 kg of vermicompost,” she shared.

Moreover, they have designed and installed hundreds of mushroom farms to date as per client requirements. Trupti is also aiding women's employment through cultivated mushroom farms and guiding them to market the products.

Empowering women

Trupti’s company has designed and installed hundreds of mushroom farms to date as per client requirements. Apart from helping mushroom cultivators in general, Trupti is also aiding women's employment through cultivated mushroom farms and guiding them to market the products.

The lady mushroom entrepreneur has been mentoring women in the “Maan-Deshi” foundation in Maharashtra’s Satara district since 2021. She has been featured in NDTV ICONS in August 2022 for her contribution to mushroom farming.

Apart from being a mushroom farmer, she is teaching women to become independent by regularly giving guest lectures in several reputed institutes and foundations.

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