Bina Devi (born ) is an Indian leader who became known for inspiring women to become businesswoman through mushroom cultivation. Nicknamed 'Mushroom Mahila' for popularising mushroom cultivation, Bina Devi gained respect and became the

Sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

of Dhauri Panchayat, Tetiabamber block for five years. She has trained farmers on mushroom and

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

vermicompost Vermicompost (vermi-compost) is the product of the decomposition process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and ...

production and organic insecticide preparation.

Early life

Devi is from a small village named Tilkari and she was born in about 1977.

Career

Devi grew a small amount of mushrooms under her own bed and this made her realise that this was an opportunity. Devi had engaged in

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

and

goat farming Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fibre and skins. Goat farming can be very suited to producti ...

but she became known for inspiring

self employment Self-employment is the state of working for oneself rather than an employer. Tax authorities will generally view a person as self-employed if the person chooses to be recognised as such or if the person is generating income for which a tax return n ...

among rural women. She has popularized mushroom production in five blocks and 105 neighbouring villages in the

Munger district Munger district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in eastern India. Munger city is the administrative headquarters of this district. Munger district is a part of Munger Division. Its literacy rate of 73.3% is higher than the st ...

, impacting 1,500 women by supporting them while they adopted mushroom farming. She has been involved in spreading

digital literacy Digital literacy refers to an individual's ability to find, evaluate, and communicate information through typing and other media on various digital platforms. It is evaluated by an individual's grammar, composition, typing skills and ability to pro ...

and trained 700 women in how to use a mobile phone funded by Tata Trusts. She has trained 2,500 farmers on SRI Method crop farming and supported the formulation of self help groups. Bina Devi became the seventh woman after Chennai-based social worker Sneha Mohandoss,

bomb blast An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are k ...

survivor

Malvika Iyer Malvika Iyer (born 18 February 1989) is an Indian national, a bilateral amputee from an accidental blast while picking up a diffused grenade, a social worker, and a National Awardee. She is an international motivational speaker and a disability ...

, Kashmiri Numdha, handicraft revival worker

Arifa Jan Arifa Jan (born ) is an Indian activist for felt rug making in Srinagar in Kashmir. Jan was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar on 8 March 2020. Life Arifa Jan was born . She is known for reviving the Kashmiri art of rug making known as Namda. Sh ...

, urban

water conservationist Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Populati ...

Kalpana Ramesh Kalpana may refer to: Film and television * ''Kalpana'' (1948 film), an Indian Hindi-language dance film * ''Kalpana'' (1960 film), a romantic Bollywood film * ''Kalpana'' (1970 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''Kalpana'' (2012 film), an I ...

, Maharashtra Banjara handicraft promotor

Vijaya Pawar Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

and lady mason

Kalavati Devi Kalavati Devi (born 1965) is an Indian mason who became an award-winning toilet builder in Kanpur. She transformed her own community by installing a 50-seat toilet and then moved to other communities. She has helped build 4,000 toilets improving ...

to handle the Prime Minister's account on Women's Day. On March 9, 2020, she was awarded with

Nari Shakti Puraskar The Nari Shakti Puraskar is an annual award given by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Government of India to individual women or to institutions that work towards the cause of women empowerment. It is the highest civilian hon ...

by President

Ram Nath Kovind Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...

Referring to her own mushroom cultivation, she said: "Due to this farming, I got respect. I became a

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

. It is a pleasure for me that many women like myself are getting the opportunity to train."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Bina Living people 1970s births Year of birth uncertain Indian farmers Indian women farmers Nari Shakti Puraskar winners People from Bihar 21st-century farmers 21st-century women farmers 20th-century farmers 20th-century women farmers