In a quiet corner of Bihar's Munger district, a woman once struggled to feed her four children. Poverty loomed large. The family had no land to farm, no steady income, and no certainty about the next meal. Yet, it was in these difficult circumstances that Bina Devi found an unusual and powerful way forward and she started cultivating mushrooms under the bed she slept on.
What began as a small farming in a cramped room has today become a movement of rural empowerment. Bina Devi is now known across the country as "The Mushroom Lady," a title earned through the transformation she has sparked in the lives of thousands of women across more than 100 villages.
Bina Devi, a resident of Tilkari village located in Tetiha Bambor, had few resources but immense resolve. With four children to raise and a household running on her husband's modest income as a rural doctor, even lighting the stove some days was a challenge.
They had no land to farm. No capital to invest. But Bina was determined to break the cycle of poverty. When traditional farming was out of reach, she chose an unconventional path-mushroom cultivation, something that doesn't require large fields or expensive infrastructure.
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