Hard work and resilience paved the way for Jithu Thomas, who, alongside his mother, turned a small business into a massive success. Kerala-based Jithu started the business of mushroom farming with his mother, Leena, and today he earns Rs 40000 per day.  

In the beginning, Jithu started the business out of sheer interest, unaware that it would soon witness his earnings in lakhs.

Jithu and his mother started farming on land of 5000 sqft. They grow 100 kilograms of mushrooms daily. They have adopted simple scientific ways to maintain temperature and humidity to grow the mushrooms. Jithu sells his products directly to the retailers without allowing middlemen in his business. He also trains new entrepreneurs about mushroom farming. As many as 1000 people have attended his training programme. 

In 2018, Jithu began mushroom farming from his room as an experiment. He was inspired to grow mushrooms after watching a video on the internet where an individual has grown mushrooms in a plastic bottle. Now, Jithu and Leena’s company has 1000 mushroom beds. 

After observing early success, Jithu enrolled in a mushroom farming course to deepen his knowledge. While mushroom farming offers the advantage of rapid growth, it comes with a challenge. Mushrooms are delicate and can be easily damaged by insects if not properly protected.