In front of every house in the liberated Kamaiya settlement in Ashapur, Bedkot Municipality-3, one or two huts made of bamboo and straw are covered with plastic.

Locals have been building such structures near their homes since Kartik. In the liberated Kamaiya settlement in Ashapur, they are now producing mushrooms from house to house. The liberated Kamaiya family earns up to 1.5/2 lakh rupees in four/five months by selling mushrooms.

Ramdulari Dagoura is one of the mushroom producers. She has been producing and selling mushrooms for 15 years. She has built two huts for mushroom production. She keeps 2/250 bags of mushrooms in one. ‘I have already sold one lot in Kartik,’ Dagoura said, ‘Now I have started selling the produce of the second lot.’ She reaches Mahendranagar market 6 kilometers away early in the morning with a mushroom tori on her head. She returns home after selling mushrooms in Mahendranagar by afternoon.

Dagoura kept mushrooms in the first week of Kartik. She started selling the product from Mangsir. She said that she sold four to five thousand per day. She said that she saved up to 80 thousand per lot. The second lot is currently being produced. She expects that this will bring her an income similar to the first lot.

Ramkumari Rana of Ashapur also kept only 25 bags in the first lot. After a good production at that time, she has now kept 200 bags. She brought the seeds from Dhangadhi. She said that she spent around 25 thousand on building the hut, purchasing seeds and straw. She estimates that she will earn 70/80 thousand after deducting the expenses.

She is also selling mushrooms worth four to five thousand per day. She said that production will continue until Falgun. ‘Our village is known for mushroom farming,’ said Ghumman Rana, ‘all the families here are engaged in mushroom farming as well as vegetable farming.’