Village Enterpreneurs

By The People, For The People

An organisation that hunts down rural innovators and turns their efforts into marketable options

Two years ago, Joy John Thengumkudiyal of Kerala had improvised the JS milker, a simple vacuum-driven device to draw milk from buffaloes. Unfortunately, he was able to sell just three of four of them in a month. Then Rural Innovations Network (RIN), a Chennai-based non-profit organisation established in 2001, got in touch with John Thengumkudiyal—thereby adding meaning to the Joy in his name. RIN has managed to improve sales to 25 units per month.

Amudha Palanivelu who till recently used to physically milk seven cows now uses Joy’s JS Milker. It costs just Rs 7,700 as against the electronic milker priced at Rs 60,000 . RIN was started by Paul Basil, an engineer by training who was keen to turn devices like these into commercially viable products. "We picked up rural innovations depending on the impact they would have. Cost and energy efficiency combined with a commitment to eco-friendliness have been the key elements," says

Basil. Today, RIN deals with 11 innovations. "We nurture the creativity of rural innovations by providing links to research and technical institutes and assisting with product development," says P. V Vijay, chief operating officer of RIN. For the team at RIN, sustainable development becomes more sustainable if the enterprise is based on local needs, utilises local knowledge and is commercially viable. Other innovations in RIN’s portfolio include the varsha rain gun, venus kerosene burner, a banana stem injector, and bio asthira which gives paddy and turmeric farmers a less expensive, fully natural, eco-friendly solution to pest management. Anna Saheb, a 70-year-old sugarcane farmer of Sadalga village in Belgaum district, Karnataka, made the varsha rain gun (Rs 6,000). Varsha saves 40-50 per cent of water used for irrigation, besides saving irrigation time, power and labour consumption. RIN incubated the rain gun and facilitated a technology transfer agreement between Anna Saheb and Servals Automation Pvt Ltd, a Chennai-based company that also makes and markets the venus kerosene stove burner. Developed by V. Thiagarajan, an engineer, it is energy-efficient for kerosene stoves tested by the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) and Anna University. The banana stem injector (Rs 500) was developed by Manoharan, a lathe owner. It injects pesticides into the pseudo-stem of the diseased banana, thus providing assured relief from stem borer, wilt and weevil attacks. One of RIN’s major successes has been the varun tiller, manufactured and marketed by Coimbatore-based Trident Dynamics. "This tiller is just 2.5 feet wide and can easily be manoeuvered in sugarcane and cotton fields and can also double up as a tractor," says K. Chandrasekhar, the innovator. Varun costs Rs 65,000 while its nearest competitor costs Rs 1,10,000. Since varun can be used for weeding operations even three months after the crop is sown, it effectively displaces weedicides and thus also reduces the chemical input into the soil. Trident sold some 120 units in three years, but after RIN entered the picture, sales are touching 120 units a year. The end users too seem happy. Amudha Palanivelu of Athanur, Namakkal, who till recently used to physically milk seven cows every morning today not only uses Joy’s JS milker, but has recommended it to 15 other farmers. Costing Rs 7,700 against an electronic machine’s Rs 60,000, the vacuum milker is one of RIN’s most sought after products. Next in line is a water harvester that will use solar energy to convert salt water to drinking water. If this materialises, millions of Indians will thirst for RIN’s success. Write to Rural Innovations Network Foundation, No. 9, 2nd Floor, Kanakasri Nagar, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086. Tel: 91 44 2811 2108. Email:info@rinovations.org

 

 

Gaurav Agarwal

Manager-Airline Relations

Bangalore International Airport Limited

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E-Mail: ga@bialairport.com

 

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