Hiresha Verma: The Mushroom Woman of Uttarakhand

A country where the agro-based communities are committing suicide and are forced to alienate themselves from farming Hiresha has appeared as a silver lining in the lives of many. Hiresha Verma, a simple woman with passion running down her nerves has taken the pledge of reviving farming in Uttarakhand.

A single woman has changed the lives of many:

Hiresha travelled to different villages and shared her expertise of mushroom farming with the rural women of Uttarakhand to encourage them to stand on their feet. She briefed the women about the advantages of mushroom farming and gave training to them. Hiresha has trained more than 1200 women residing in the tiny hamlets of Chamoli, Gopeshwar, Tehri, and Haldwani. Apart from this 2,000 people have gained knowledge from her about doing effective mushroom farming.

Hiresha is an inspiration for those who are migrating from the villages in search of livelihood:

Hiresha has proved that there is a solution to every problem only if we try to resolve it by harnessing our energy in it. She says that the abandoned home of the villages can be used for growing mushrooms which can help in bringing people back to their native homes. According to Hiresha, a small room is enough to start mushroom farming and even a person having less capital can also do it.

Hiresha’s hobby developed into a profitable business:

Hiresha who gave 12 essential years of her life to her IT company started mushroom farming as a hobby by using 25 bags of compost. When she yielded great output, she thought of taking mushroom farming to another level. Now she proudly owns a big plant at Upper Charba in Dehradun whose net worth is around one crore rupees. Hiresha’s mushroom business has flourished and has entered the global markets. Now she exports mushrooms to UAE, USA and East Asia.

About Hiresha:

Ms. Hiresha Verma is the MD & CEO of Hanzen Technologies Pvt. Ltd. She is not only a successful woman but a role model for many as she has used her knowledge of mushroom farming to help women to start their own small-scale businesses. For her noteworthy efforts in reviving farming and providing a source of livelihood to many Ms. Haresha has been honoured with Grassroot Level Women of the Decade Award 2014, Women Entrepreneur Award in 2011, and ISB for Leadership & Management Certificate.

Inputs from: Amarujala and www.aall.in

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