Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development

The present study envisioned at formulating a Women Friendly Entrepreneurship Promotion Model; empower women group through formation of Women FPOs and sustain the entrepreneurial prospects through profitable initiative such as mushroom cultivation. The study represents the women group of Nischintakoili block of Cuttack district of Odisha, who were empowered by registering the ‘Ananya Farmer Producer Company Limited’ and made financially reliant and nutritionally secured by mushroom farming. The developed ‘Women Friendly Entrepreneurship Promotion Model’ primarily focused on five pivotal components such as ‘Input Providers, Input Suppliers, Input Users, Critical Needs and Market Channel’ for sustenance of profit making. Agri-entrepreneurship was encouraged among the women farmers through promotion of paddy straw mushroom cultivation through intensive training-cum-demonstrations. The model played a pivotal role to enhance women farmers’ income by increasing production potential of paddy straw mushroom cultivation. Women farmers adopted paddy straw mushroom cultivation and obtained an average gross return of Rs. 27,000/ 100 beds, while the average net return was Rs. 18,550/ 100 beds. The estimated benefit: Cost (B:C) ratio was 3.19. The mushroom farming enabled the women farmers in augmenting the farm income and supplementing the family nutrition by providing the vital and essential nutrients. Orientation of farm women into formal groups, mainstreaming them through gender-friendly approaches and identifying profitable enterprises for them and making it economically viable through Entrepreneurship model can stimulate in holistic socio-economic development of women in agrarian communities.