THEME OF INNOVATION
Modified Rice Drum Seeder for Better Crop Management and Higher Harvest Yield.

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Shri Laxman Baburao alias Bal Dalvi
Experience	35 years
Region of operation	Maharashtra
Turnover	Not disclosed
Volume	30–40 units
No. of employees	2
Contact details	At Vadap, Post Gourkamat, Taluka Karjat, District Raigad, Maharashtra
Phone	02148 226617, 09273187434
Email	niliagromachines@yahoo.co.in

BUSINESS MODEL
A total of 50 Drum Seeders were manufactured by the Farmer under the guidance of Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth University Scientists and sold in nearby villages. He sells each drum at a price of Rs. 3500 and makes a profit of nearly Rs. 1000 per drum.

In a year, he is able to sell 30 to 40 machines which earn him a profit of around Rs. 40,000. He depends on word-of-mouth publicity for his product.

One of the prototypes of this equipment is also showcased at Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth University.

INNOVATION DETAILS
Modifications were done in DRR Rice Drum Seeder (designed by Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad).

The modified equipment sowed 4 lines at a time, using tyres of a cycle instead of the steel wheels. This reduced the weight considerably and made the equipment much more navigable and easy to use.

It has a 9 inch line and a hole 2 inches above that.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
The modified drum seeder was designed during May, 2009 and put to use in his own village Vadap on an area of 3 hectares during June, 2009, besides area of 12 hectares in nearby villages viz. Sapele, Gaurkamat, Salokh, Ashivali, Dahigaon, Posari. Currently, farmers in nearby villages have sown rice with drum seeder on an area of more than 250 acres. It increases the yield of rice per acre from 15 tons to 18 tons, therefore saving Rs. 3000 per acre.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
Chairman of Rajnala Rice Seed Production and Nursery Cooperative Society, Vadap, Taluka Karjat.

ISSUES
The major hurdle to scaling up of operations is of marketing and publicity. Shri Laxmanrao claims that once made aware of its benefits, farmers have readily adopted this modified drum.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Biogas Plant

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Mr. Amrut Mutha
Experience	25 years
Region of operation	Maharashtra
Turnover	Not disclosed
Volume	Not disclosed
No. of employees	8
Contact details	At Post Rastapur, Taluka Nivasa, District Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
Phone	09970151001
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
Mostly publicized through word-of-mouth. Free consultation to visiting farmers.

INNOVATION DETAILS
The innovator produces 15 kw of electric energy by using cattle dung as a feed for the plant. The energy produced is used to successfully run a 26 hp motor. It is a three phase biogas production unit. This has led to twin benefits as the dairy farming and agriculture aspects have been integrated as a business resulting in cost optimization and a self sustaining model. Usage of biogas as a fuel has benefitted in ways more than one: the cleaning of the cattle area is automatically taken care of due to supply of this dung into the biogas plant, thereby preventing worm and pathogen build up – also, requirement of collecting wood for fuel is no longer there, resulting in less labour requirement.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
This plant is giving the innovator a profit of Rs. 6 lakh per year. With a benefit of easy installation, it also reduces the labour requirements. Also, since skilled labourers are required, therefore he also imparts these skills training to the labourers.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
Enterprise International Award, Pune

Vishweswarya All India Engineers Award

ISSUES
Skilled labourers are required for the execution of the plant which is difficult to get.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Fine Cleaner Grader for Spices and Grains

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Mr. L D Patel
Experience	40 years
Region of operation	Gujarat
Turnover	Approx Rs. 1.25 crore (Overall)
Volume	Not disclosed
No. of employees	35
Contact details	Goldin Engineering Company, Last Lane, B.I.D.C. Estate, Gorwa, Vadodara – 390016
Phone	0265 2291540, 2284120
Email	goldin1971@yahoo.com

BUSINESS MODEL
Manufacturing of machines, marketing and selling with lifetime maintenance service.

INNOVATION DETAILS
This equipment is used for fine cleaning. It can be only used after some pre-cleaning. The output it gives is very pure, removing all oversized and undersized grains, giving a very uniform size. This is mainly used for spices and food grains. This is totally closed environment equipment and hence gives dust-free uniform sized grains which make them more sellable at the retail level. It is capable of removing impurities which are very closely attached to the grain - at the same it doesn’t waste good quality grain by passing it out along with dirt. The cost of equipment ranges between Rs. 2 lakh (0.01 tons/hour) to Rs. 5 lakh (1 ton/hour) with almost zero maintenance.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
This machine gives uniform sized, dust free grains. Such purity is essential to export food grains. This throughput rate is almost impossible to replicate manually (manual rates are around 1 kg/hour against 1 ton/hour managed by this machine). Also, grading according to sizes is almost impossible manually. Therefore this equipment is crucial in achieving export standard grain.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
ISO 9001:2008 certified

ISSUES
They haven’t faced any major issues as such. They take continuous feedback from clients and improve the performance of the future products.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Pulses/Dal Miller

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Bhaagyarekha Enterprises
Experience	55 years
Region of operation	Maharashtra
Turnover	12 crore
Volume	Not disclosed
No. of employees	68 people
Contact details	Mr. Girish Maheshwari, 3872/1, Solapur Road, P.B. No. 86, Barsi, Solapur - 413401, Maharashtra
Phone	02184 222528/325528
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
He does in-house R&D but does not wish to disclose details. However he is willing to share information with research bodies.

INNOVATION DETAILS
The process of dal milling mainly involves two processes i.e. removal of husk and splitting it into cotyledons (two parts). Removal of husk (seed coat) reduces roughage, improves storability, cooking quality, palatability and digestibility. The bondage of husk with cotyledons is strong and the strength of bondage varies in each variety of pulses. Forced dehusking and splitting cause’s heavy processing losses. Outermost 5% layer of dal contains 40% of total protein. A sizable part from this high value protein concentrated area of cotyledons is converted into powder and broken. It goes with husk powder (chuni), which is used as cattle feed, and this also creates the problem of acute dust pollution. On account of this, the economic viability for dal miller also becomes unfavourable and the pulse grower (farmer) also gets less value for his produce.The new technology developed for dal milling results in higher yield, shorter process time and reduction in processing expenses. The dal obtained by this process system is better in protein value, appearance, cooking quality and shelf life. Irrespective of external climatic conditions, the quality of dal is consistent round the year.No chemical is being used and the process is fully automated and totally hygienic. The area required for land and building is also lesser.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
Output of dal compared to the previous technologies is increased by 3 to 5%. The protein rich 1st quality dal (parka) is increased to 78% of total, up by 20% from the current 55–58%. Thus providing more nutritious dal for consumption. At present, conversion of raw pulses (tour, moon, rued, etc.) into dal takes around 5–7 days; by using this equipment, process time is reduced to 2 days. Thereby saving on valuable capital, space and fluctuations in the rate. For processing raw pulses into dal, millers use edible oil, which is a commodity in shortage. With this new technology there is a 60–80% reduction in the consumption of oil. This process also reduces electricity and fuel consumption by 35–50%. Completely dehisced grain (goat) is attained in ‘single’ post oil rolling operation. By eliminating repetitive rolling (scrubbing/scratching) process, dust pollution is almost nil. The dal obtained by this process system is very superior on all aspects; such as sharp edges, colour, shining, appearance, cooking quality and protein value.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
None

ISSUES
The Dal milling industry was very sceptical in adopting this new technology – but has shown more acceptability lately.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Advanced Farm Field Tools

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Shri Jayavant H Wadekar
Experience	15 years
Region of operation	Wada, Thane Maharashtra
Turnover	Not disclosed
Volume	1000
No. of employees	5
Contact details	A P Wada, District Thane-421303
Phone	02526-650355, Mobile: 09226728101
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
Mr. Wadekar has farming experience of more than 15 years. He runs a small scale workshop and has developed some user friendly farm operation tools. Every month he sells 20 to 40 units of each tool costing in range of Rs. 25 to 60.

INNOVATION DETAILS
Traditional farm field tools cause many physical injuries. They have handling problems like slipping from hand, more force requirement, have less life and require more maintenance. In order to overcome these problems and attain actual requirement of tools for rice farming the farmer has developed some of them. The steel used is of better quality with higher strength. These tools are less in weight as compared to traditional tools.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
The tools are easy in handling and require lesser effort while operating. Manual working speed is increased considerably saving lot of time. As the tool is assembled, any broken part can be replaced easily instead of replacing the tool.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
None

ISSUES
The farmer seeks help in marketing these tools. He is giving many of his tools to farmers at free of cost so as to advertise.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Innovative Spray Pump with Dual Media Spray

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Shri Boraste Sampatrao V
Experience	6 years
Region of operation	Maharashtra
Turnover	1 crore per year
Volume	200 pumps per year
No. of employees	15
Contact details	Pimpalgaon, Opp National Highway, Nasik
Phone	09923588535
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
Production and sale of spray pumps. He also provides free consultation and maintenance for 1 year.

INNOVATION DETAILS
Mr. Sampatrao manufactures spray pumps which can be used for all types of crops. The systems have an attached chemical tank and dust fan, enabling spraying of both types of media. The spray pumps can be attached to a tractor. They are available with a tank capacity ranging from 200 to 1000 litres. The spray pumps can be used for all crops but are mainly designed for pomegranate and grape. The systems have an attached chemical tank and dust fan, enabling spraying of both types of media. Apart from offering the option of using both types of spray materials – liquid and powder, this leads to substantial increase in efficiency.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
Using this pump will enable farmer to cover more than 20 acres in a day. This tremendous speed leads to savings in terms of time and labour. It saves about 6 man-hours per day. It eventually translates to a labour saving by almost 50%. It also results in other cost savings to the tune of Rs. 160 per acre. It also requires very low maintenance. The uniformity of spray has resulted in export quality fruits and has resulted in growth of a large number of cold storage and wine factories in the vicinity of the village. This pump leads to cost savings up to 30 to 40%.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
None

ISSUES
The main issue Mr. Sampatrao faces is the shortage of quality (ITI Grade) manpower. These skilled labourers are in short supply.

One of the biggest challenges is to maintain the quality constant across all outputs. He has invested good amount of time and effort in R&D activities.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Trishul Tractor

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Haresh Bhai Patel
Experience	10 years
Region of operation	Gujarat
Turnover	Rs. 6,90,00,000 per year
Volume	300 tractors per year
No. of employees	40
Contact details	Trishul Tractors Pvt Ltd Ghogha Vadar Road, Gondal Rajkot
Phone	09879225000
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
The innovator sells these tractors at Rs. 2,30,000 per tractor. He also provides free maintenance service for 1 year. He works with partnership with five other people. He has his own marketing channel through which he publicizes his product and has appointed dealers in different districts. He also attends “Kisan Mela” in Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Junagadh.

INNOVATION DETAILS
Mr. Haresh Bhai Patel sensed the need of farm mechanization for small & medium farmer and the difficulty faced by them in owning a regular Tractor. With this aim, he developed a small sized tractor which could do most of the things that a regular tractor would do and yet be economical for use on small sized farms. The new model is even well equipped with modern and hi-tech features such as Automatic Draft Control Hydraulic System. He has introduced a 10 hp tractor for small farmers. This tractor is fuel efficient and also economical. It suits mainly the small farmers and horticulture developers as it has a high capacity of catering to 1 acre per hour despite its small size. This mini tractor can work as a reversible plough, cultivator, chisel plough, raft, loader, thresher, trailer and also as a generator set. This tractor is tested from CFMTTI (Central Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institute).

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
This small tractor has bridged a gap between the requirements of small farmers and farm mechanization. The surge in demand is a testimony to its effectiveness. The small farmers can now opt for this tractor instead of manual labour, resulting in time savings of up to 5 hours per day.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
None

ISSUES
The demand of this tractor is around 3000 per year but they able to manufacture only about 300 tractors due to financial constraints.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Mini Tractor

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Captain Tractors Pvt. Ltd
Experience	17 years
Region of operation	Rajkot
Turnover	Rs. 30 crore (mini tractor), Rs. 35 crore (Overall)
Volume	200
No. of employees	150
Contact details	Veraval (Sharpar) East, Padavla Road, Taluka, Kotda Sangani Rajkot - 360024, Gujarat, India
Phone	02827-252547
Email	NA

BUSINESS MODEL
The unit has an installed production capacity of 4500 Units. The selling price of a mini tractor is Rs. 2, 50,000. The company successfully sold 1200 mini tractors in Indian market last year and generated revenue of Rs. 30 crore.

INNOVATION DETAILS
Captain Tractors Pvt. Ltd., previously known as Asha Exim Pvt. Ltd., was established in 1994 by farmers Mr. G.T. Patel and Mr. M.T. Patel of Rajkot.

The company started developing a Mini Tractor in 1998 which could be afforded by small and medium farmers.

Its latest model has all the basic features and characteristics of bigger or higher H.P. modern tractors. It is small in size but capable of performing all cultivation operations normally performed by higher H.P. tractors like land preparation, sowing, inter-cultivation, irrigation, harvesting, post harvesting operation and transportation.

The weight of the tractor is 845 kg without standard ballast.

The dimensions include length: 2286 mm, width: 1016 mm/1168 mm, height: 1955 mm (with exhaust pipe), wheelbase: 1550 mm, ground clearance: 260 mm, track width: 812 mm/965 mm (rear wheels) and track width: 902 mm (front wheels).

The manufacturing plant is based in Rajkot which is well equipped with modern tools & equipments, quality control instruments, R&D facility and manned with trained and qualified engineers to ensure smooth production of the tractors. Captain Mini Tractor is claimed to consume nearly 40% less fuel compared to other tractors. The engine has been tested and certified by ARIA as per the pollution control norms.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
Small tractors are a boon for small farmers – as, they bridge a very important gap between inefficiencies of manual techniques and unviable cost of using bigger tractors. A small tractor can be utilized up to 80% of its capacity on an average, while bigger tractors are useful only up to 20% of the full capacity for such small farmers.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
. National award - 2008 for Best Entrepreneurship

. National award - 2008 for Best R&D Work

ISSUES
Small farmers are said to be less focused on quality of small tractors and more on price – they need to be made aware of benefits of long term durability.

THEME OF INNOVATION
Modified Turmeric Grinding Process which Saves Material and Power

Focus AREA
Agriculture Equipment

DETAILS OF INNOVATOR

Name	Mr. V. V. Ghurye
Experience	30 years
Region of operation	Maharashtra
Turnover	Rs. 4.5 crore
Volume	12 units
No. of employees	Not disclosed
Contact details	Young Technocrats Pvt Ltd Plot No. 45, Sect 1-A, Cidco Industries, Airoli, Navi Mumbai – 400708
Phone	022 26151023, 09819160599 (Mobile)
Email	vasudevghurye@gmail.com

BUSINESS MODEL
The innovator mainly gets his business through recommendations of existing users. He also advertises extensively online and in trade magazines.

INNOVATION DETAILS
The conventional grinding process (by which over 80% of the turmeric is grinded) involves a hammer mill. The hammer mill is a very crude technology which crushes the turmeric fingers with high impact. This raises the temperature of the process (up to 80oC). It also requires a lot of maintenance as wear and tear in such a process is greater. The innovator replaced the hammer mill by a pin-mill process. He designed the pin mill and integrated it into the process seamlessly. This process operates at low temperatures (doesn’t go beyond 50oC). Also, this requires less maintenance and consumes significantly less power than the conventional process. The savings and the quality of product is far superior with the use of this equipment. He is currently selling this machine from Rs. 25 lakh (300 kg per hour model) to Rs. 75 lakh (1 ton per hour model) price range. The machine can be used for 24 hours.

IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
The higher temperature in the conventional grinding leads to loss of oil and aroma from the powder.

In the entire process there is a loss of about 9% (by weight) due to burning out of oil. This process has a weight loss of only about 2%. Thus a direct saving of about 7% of material.

Assuming a modest capacity of 300 kg per hour operating only for 12 hours (against an average of 24 hours), it amounts to 252 kg saved in a day. Taking the price of turmeric powder to be Rs. 150 per kg, this translates to savings of about Rs. 37, 800 a year.

Also, as the temperature is low, the natural ingredients, oil and aroma of the powder is maintained. This fetches a premium of 5 to 10% in the market.

Apart from this there is a definite saving of about 30% in power as pin mill consumes lesser power than hammer mill. This product can potentially pay back the investment in less than a year.

RECOGNITION/AWARDS
None

ISSUES
One of the challenges of this process is that any presence of foreign particle (for e.g. iron nails) in the turmeric finger will lead to severe damage in the system.

To counter this, he advises to use a magnetic separator before feeding the raw material into the system.

The other challenge is that of publicity. Despite having a good product, it has not attained popularity in the market as yet.