This techie-turned entrepreneur is empowering women farmers with mushroom cultivation

Over a decade ago, Hiresha Verma visited the flood-hit areas in the Kedarnath Hills of Uttarakhand. 

While the entire world was emotionally impacted by the situation, what struck Verma the most was the condition of the women and children in the region. 

“I had an opportunity to distribute some food packets and clothes in the flood-hit areas. After returning, I kept constantly thinking about those women and what they would do,” she recalls. 

Another thing she noticed was that most of the women were illiterate and did not have any source of livelihood. “They were just cutting grass and bringing wood from the jungles,” she says. 

Upon brainstorming, Verma realised that the climate of the state suited mushroom cultivation. And that the women in the hills could leverage the same to make a living. 

However, she had no experience in agriculture. Having worked in the IT sector, Verma had to start from scratch to excel in executing what she was planning to do. And this is where her journey began. 

She undertook training from the Directorate of Mushroom Research (DMR), and gradually began providing mushroom cultivation training to the women in the region.

After starting mushroom cultivation in 2015, she officially founded her company, Han Agrocare, in 2019. Over the years, she formalised the processes, registered the company, and put a structure in place. 

However, the switch from corporate to agri-business did not sit well with most people, including her family. “Initially, nobody supported me. People even laughed at me,” she shares. 

Previously, she had been running her own software development company ‘Hanzen International’. 

People could not believe she was ready to give up an IT career in agriculture. 

“It was not easy. I had to learn each and every step--from using machineries, to teaching the women, and creating a market for them. Initially, I used to go to the mandi (market) to sell the produce at 3 in the morning,” she adds. 

Over the course of time, Verma moved from producing button mushrooms to medicinal mushrooms, upon realising that India was primarily importing the latter.

“I found that there are medicinal mushrooms, which we import from China, Thailand, and Japan, and thought of trying them out. Today, we have completely stopped producing button mushrooms. The women we work with grow the produce and we buy it from them. We are working towards replacing the Chinese market in India,” she highlights. 

Today, the company supports close to 5,000 women in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. 

Currently, the company sells medicinal mushroom products such as Shiitake, Ganoderma, Lion's mane, and Turkey tail.

“Shiitake has Vitamin D2. Ganoderma is helpful in dealing with anxiety and depression and helps with sound sleep. Lion's mane helps with memory loss, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer's disease. Turkey tail is helpful for diabetes,” Verma states. 

The product categories comprise fresh medicinal mushrooms, dry medicinal mushrooms, extracts and powders, value-added mushroom-based, supplements and nutraceuticals. And they are sold online through the company’s website as well as through offline retail stores. 

Earlier this year, Han Agrocare was featured in the ‘Compendium of 75 Agri Entrepreneurs and Innovators’ released by Niti Aayog. 

While Verma has come a long way, paving her way in a male-dominated field has not been easy. 

“I was cheated many times. I was taken lightly by vendors and buyers initially. I had to fight my own battle apart from fighting for the women,” she says. 

Drawing on her experience, Verma advises women to be positive and believe in themselves. “There will be setbacks, and people will take you for granted, but then you have to believe in yourself, make strategies, and plan. Without planning, nothing will happen,” she concludes.