Rather than chase jobs after finishing their studies, or join the thousands of young people living with unemployment, three young men in Sreemangal upazila of Moulvibazar have chosen their own path. Instead of counting the days until the next job advertisement, they started growing oyster mushrooms in a small 270-square-foot room with just Tk 50,000 in capital.
The three friends from West Bharaura village in Sreemangal Union No. 3, Sakhawat Hossain, 25, Emdadul Haque Milon, 24, and Md Tanim Mia, 24, built the venture with their own labour and limited money.
Emdadul Haque Milon is a third-year honours student of political science at Moulvibazar Government College. Md Sakhawat Hossain completed his HSC at Sreemangal Government College, while Md Tanim Mia could not continue his studies after class eight because of hardship.
From a cattle farm to mushrooms
The young entrepreneurs said they first planned to set up a livestock farm. After looking into it, they found it would need at least Tk 8 lakh to 10 lakh, which they could not raise.
On the advice of a teacher, they chose mushroom farming as something that could be started cheaply and in a small space. They had no experience and no formal training, but taught themselves the whole process by researching on YouTube, ChatGPT and Google.
Technology
They began growing mushrooms in a tin-roofed room in April this year. Keeping the right conditions for mushrooms in Sreemangal’s warm weather is a major challenge.
To control temperature and humidity, they installed exhaust fans and an automatic water sprinkler. The lighting, fans and sprinkler can all be run from a mobile app.
Sales
On Tuesday (20 October) afternoon, rows of mushroom polybags hung in two lines along both ends of the tin-roofed room in West Bharaura. The farm has already started selling mushrooms, at a wholesale price of Tk 400 a kilogram, and demand from customers is strong.
“At first we had no plan to grow mushrooms. We wanted a cattle and goat farm, but we did not have a big budget, so we could not go that way,” Sakhawat Hossain said. “Then a teacher suggested mushroom farming on a small budget. We searched YouTube, ChatGPT and Google and saw it was quite profitable and possible with little capital. We have spent about Tk 50,000 so far. Demand in the market is good, so our sales are going well. We started small, but we dream of expanding the farm and creating jobs for other unemployed young people.”
“Because of the intense heat our production is a little lower,” Md Tanim Mia said. “If we get government help with a cooling system, we can produce on a bigger scale and give work to unemployed young men.”
Local interest
Local residents come to the farm every day to see the venture and learn how it works. “It is truly praiseworthy that young people are trying this instead of waiting for jobs. If they succeed, many others in the area will be inspired,” said local resident Jamir Ali. Hasan, a young man from the area, said: “This is the first time in my life I have seen mushrooms being grown. I liked it a lot, and I will try to do something like this too.”
According to agriculturists, the mushroom is an edible fungus that can be grown indoors in an enclosed space without sunlight. It needs good spawn (seed), a clean environment and careful control of temperature and humidity.
“This initiative by the young men is praiseworthy,” Sreemangal Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Alauddin told the Dainik Khola Kagoj. “With the right technical knowledge and training, mushroom farming has good potential. The agriculture department will give importance to providing young entrepreneurs with the advice and government support they need.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report