Stubble burning is one of the leading causes of worsening air quality in many states of northern India. So much so that recently, Punjab’s state government was compelled to issue dire warnings to farmers of the state, even threatening legal action. Stubble burning, which harms the public’s health quite drastically, is not something you would expect to bear any advantages, right? Not according to Dr. Pooja Dubey Pandey, who witnessed the menace of stubble burning and instead saw an opportunity for sustenance and cultivation. She managed to grow mushrooms from the stubble and subsequently managed to tackle two globally pertinent issues of malnutrition and pollution simultaneously. Not only this, her ingenious idea has also improved her economic status as the products of her research-based company BETi (Biotech Era Transforming India) are exported internationally to countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Japan. This in turn led to a monthly turnover of about 15 to 20 Lakhs INR. Here is more about her brilliant idea to start your day on a positive note:
Pooja Dubey Pandey is a doctor from Indore who decided to cultivate mushrooms on a stubble farm. She got this idea on a visit to Delhi. During her visit she noticed the smog and the pollution and thought to herself, why not turn this issue into an opportunity? She began cultivating mushrooms from the stubble left behind after the grain harvest.
Where normally the stubble would be set alight which would worsen the soil fertility and release harmful gases into the air, Dr. Pandey’s brilliant idea would instead help increase the soil’s nutritional value along with the obvious benefit of no additional harm to the environment. The Nutritious Superfood Mushrooms, as is mentioned on their company profile, can be grown on crop residues with limited water and land. Furthermore the waste produced from the cultivation is then recycled into eco-friendly packaging and similar articles.
Dr. Pandey’s commitment to better help the environments didn’t stop as she went on to establish her centre, BETi in Indore in 2017. It's purpose was for research and training. In addition to cultivating mushrooms for better environment sustainability, the centre also provides training programs to help others with similar sentiment of growing mushrooms with environment preservation in mind. In 2019, her company became a DPIIT-certified (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) startup under the Startup India initiative. The company is directed by herself and Mr. Pradeep Pandey.
Dr. Pooja Dubey put her 10 years of experience in research, academics and industry to start her Mushroom Spawn Production Laboratory, which offers training, internship and research projects to students. She offers the skills and product development training to the youth in the hope that her legacy continues on to build a better and healthier future for us all. Her efforts and ingenuity are greatly appreciated as we all look towards a bright future ahead of us where environment degradation is not the foreboding topic that it is today.