Ashok Jadhav, an organic farmer, built a tool for manually pulling out weeds, using two iron rods attached with a 7-inch cable wire, joined with a bamboo handle.
What would cost Rs 3000 per day is now done by the device which costs Rs 400. Ashok has sold over 5000 such devices.
2. Growing plants using leaves
S Rajarathnam, a farmer from Coimbatore has brought to life a low-cost leaf-culture technique which doesn’t need a seed to grow a plant.
His method involves plucking a leaf, maintaining the right amount of moisture and humidity for the leaf to survive and induce roots, which takes about four to five weeks.
3. Increasing shelf life of organic vegetables
Sumer Singh from Haryana has found a way to increase the shelf life of his organic produce using stubble for mulching, which keeps the soil moist for longer.
He harvests 80 quintals of onion from one acre. He hangs the onions in bundles like one hangs bananas instead of storing in stacks, which restricts spoilage and keeps them safe for three to four months.
4. Extending shelf life of vegetables
Vaibhav Tidke developed a solar dryer using a patented food drying technology to extend the shelf life of produce, without adding chemicals and preservatives.
Not only fruits and vegetables, this dryer can also be used for meats, seafood and spices. It has been installed in more than 1200 places in India.
5. Seed sower for small farmers
Gorre Ashok, a 20-YO from Telangana created a seed sowing tool which eliminates the need for farmers or gardeners to bend when they sow seeds, helping small farmers.
Using a spring mechanism, his device is like a walking stick which allows farmers to plant seeds while walking upright. He sells it for Rs 850 per piece.
6. An organic manure factory
G R Sakthivel, an organic farmer from Erode, Tamil Nadu, innovated a way to convert cow dung and urine into manure to feed his crops.
He designed a four-compartment unit to collect the cattle waste, which was filtered and directly irrigated into his crops. The cow dung residue was converted to fuel through his biogas producing facility.
7. A device to measure water requirements of crops
Malesh T’s agri-tech platform CultYvate enables farmers to look after their crops sitting at home. The technology helps them understand when to provide irrigation so the crop is not submerged in water all the time.
Malesh says that he is cutting down 40 percent of water use in farms through his platform. “Our technology helps farmers analyse the dynamic climatic conditions and plan their farm cultivation,” says Malesh.
8. Turning crop waste into furniture
Stubble burning is a major environmental problem. Shubham Singh has invented a machine that converts farm waste into paper, packaging material and furniture.
His machine separates the fractions present in crop waste, which is used to prepare green boards that can be used for making furniture.
The residual compost is sent back to farmers. They also get a secondary income from this waste.
9. A biofertiliser that increases crop yield
Akshay Shrivastav has created a bio-fertiliser that he says can help increase agricultural productivity by 35 percent, helping over 3,000 farmers across India.
The biofertiliser has 60 types of microbes which can enhance nutrients in the soil. He also developed a granule that increases crop yield and reduces irrigation needs by more than 30 percent.
10. Protecting small farmers from climate change
To help small farmers combat climate change, Kheyti launched ‘Greenhouse-in-a-box’ in 2015. The greenhouse helps plants thrive.
They claim that it uses 90% less water, cuts off excess heat by 2-4 degrees Celsius, reduces pests by 90 percent, and protects crops from climate risk.