In today's time, after finishing their studies, the youth aspires to live a luxurious life by getting a good job and a hefty salary. Farming is rarely on their list. In such a time, there is a youth who not only made agriculture his career, but now he is also giving employment to about 15 people.

This story is of young Anuj Sharma, who hails from Himachal and is famous throughout the area for mushroom cultivation. Along with the mechanical engineering job, the way Anuj Sharma succeeded by dedicating himself to mushroom cultivation is a source of inspiration for the youth.

Anuj Sharma, who earns lakhs annually, spoke exclusively to india Times hindi and told how mushroom cultivation changed his life.

Born on 23 february 1990 in Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, Anuj says that he comes from a common farmer family. His father Panch ram Sharma paid attention to his studies since childhood. 

As a result, he was successful in pursuing his engineering studies without any interruption. After completing his studies, in 2012, Anuj was also successful in getting a job. In a way, Anuj's life was set. But, he had something else in mind.

Anuj had always intended to create his own business, but he couldn't determine what to do. Anuj recalls attending a function at a friend's house in the year 2016. During this moment, his gaze was drawn to a mushroom plant near his friend's home.

Start farming with an engineering job

Anuj discovered during his investigation that the mushroom market is fairly large. Its consumption is likewise fast increasing. As a result, it may be advantageous to them. 

Anuj had opted to start mushroom gardening at the time. Initially, he began with his job, which was fully supported by his family. Gulabi Devi and Tau amar Sharma, as well as their father, supported their son at every turn.

As a result, by the end of 2016, Anuj started his own mushroom plant. Anuj says that he faced a lot of difficulties in the beginning. 

It was very difficult for him to find time for his mushroom plant with a job, many times the idea of leaving the job came to his mind, but right now he was not earning enough from the famous plant that he could do it. Well, he persevered, and finally, his hard work started paying off.

Now the annual turnover is Rs 20-22 lakhs!

After a few months of hard work, his mushroom started selling. Good quality and timely delivery was made by Anuj as his mantra of success and worked hard. At present, Anuj is successfully running two plants. 

They have one plant in Udham Singh Nagar, Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, while the other plant is in  Paonta Sahib, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh. About 15 people are working on a monthly salary in both the plants.

Talking about the nationwide lockdown during the Corona epidemic, Anuj says that it definitely had an impact on his business as well. 

Suddenly his production stopped. But he did not lose his patience and also assured his team that this bad time is not going to last forever. Further, after the end of the lockdown, he made up for his loss by delivering his famous door-to-door. 

Anuj says that he has absolutely no hesitation in saying that mushroom cultivation has completely changed his life. They are easily able to make an annual turnover of Rs 20-22 lakhs annually, due to which they get a profit of Rs 8-10 lakhs.

He is well known in the area.  Now people have started contacting him for even training in mushroom cultivation. He receives hundreds of calls every day. 

How Anuj Sharma does mushroom cultivation?

Anuj says that he has not installed any kind of air conditioner in his plants to keep the production cost low. They decide according to the season which mushroom they want to grow. Actually, there are many types of mushrooms. 

Buttons, shiitake, oysters, cremini, and porcini are some of the popular names for mushrooms. The method of cultivation of all these is different. All of them are grown in different environments.

Anuj believes that mushroom cultivation is also a science. It contains many types of scientific facts. If the cultivation of Mashroop is done properly, then good profits can be earned in its business. 

Mushroom consumption is increasing rapidly due to its medicinal quality. The interesting thing is that the demand for mushrooms is much more than what is produced in the world. Its promotion is increasing.

Recalling the old times, Anuj says that there was a time when no one knew him. But today the whole area recognizes him. Many youths got inspired and made him their mentor. 

This means Anuj has now started training people to cultivate mushrooms. Along with this, they are growing to take their business to new dimensions. Anuj considers his younger Shubham as the strongest pillar in his journey.