Mushroom Farming in a Tin Shed: Three Friends’ Aim to Create 50 Jobs Inspired by YouTube
Inspired by mushroom farming videos on YouTube, three university students from Sreemangal in Moulvibazar have started growing mushrooms in a small tin-roofed room. Their initiative is attracting customers alongside their studies and outsourcing work. Although production remains limited, they hope to expand the farm and create jobs for more than 50 people in the future.
Mohammad Emdadul Haque Milom, Mohammad Sakaowat Hossain and Mohammad Tanim, residents of Paschim Bhadoura village in Sreemangal upazila, have jointly established a small mushroom farm in a 270-square-foot tin-roofed room.
All three are university students who also work in outsourcing. Interested in starting something new, they decided to venture into mushroom farming after watching videos on YouTube. They learned the basic cultivation methods online and collected the necessary materials from Sylhet. According to the entrepreneurs, each cultivation unit costs around Tk 40.
The farm currently produces about two kilogrammes of mushrooms a week, which the friends sell for Tk 400 per kilogramme. They said they receive multiple orders every day from well-known hotels and households but cannot meet all the demand because of limited production.
The three friends also said they had developed their own technology to control the temperature required for mushroom cultivation. They believe mushrooms can be eaten with various dishes and that wider use could create greater market demand.
Their goal is to expand production and develop the farm on a larger scale with government support. They hope the expansion will create employment opportunities for more than 50 people. Several attempts were made to contact Sreemangal Upazila Agriculture Officer Mohammad Alauddin for comment, but his response could not be obtained before the report was filed.
What began as a small venture inspired by YouTube has become a path towards self-reliance for the three friends. They hope that with the necessary support and opportunities to increase production, their modest farm will eventually grow into a larger enterprise that creates jobs.
