Cultivating hope

Strapped for agricultural land in diamond-mined areas of Panna, women grow mushrooms at home for sustenance and livelihood

- RAKESH KUMAR MALVIYA

UNTIL FOUR years ago, Somwati Kondar fought a daily battle to get food on the table. “We did not grow anything, so all the food was bought from the market. My family of five could only eat when my husband and I found work as labourers or sold firewood,” says the 45-year-old resident of Ranipur village in Panna district, Madhya Pradesh.

“But since 2021, when I started growing mushrooms at home, we have not worried about food,” she says. Kondar is one of 65 women from the tribal-dominated Ranipur, Gandhi Gram, Maanjha, Sunhara and Bador villages in Panna who grow mushrooms. The region is known for its diamond reserves. With much of the land under mines, there is little scope for agriculture or other livelihood opportunities. Men often work at diamond mines or stone quarries.