There are 4 crucial farming operations — weeding, drilling seeds, spraying fertiliser and laying manure — all taken care of by 18-year-old Ramdhan Lodha’s photo voltaic powered machine.
Ramdhan Lodha grew up amidst the sunny fields of Jhalawar in Rajasthan. The 18-year-old was conscious about the challenges confronted by farmers as he noticed his mother and father toil within the fields for a meagre revenue.
As a younger boy, a eager curiosity in science led Ramdhan to spend most of his time tinkering with machines and experiments. He participated in each science competitors introduced on the faculty with the mindset of making one thing new. Whereas the improvements had been small to start with, an issue he noticed at house left him with a burning need to resolve it.
He noticed his father, Rajaram Lodha, spending hours on the subject, lugging round a heavy spray pump on his shoulder to spray fertilisers on the crops. With age, this process turned more and more tough and tedious for his father. Steady utilization additionally induced accidents on his shoulder, which pained younger Ramdhan.
The younger innovator determined to resolve this drawback for his father by constructing a machine that might spray fertiliser and uproot weeds on the identical time. Whereas the concept was nice, funding was a problem as Ramdhan didn’t wish to burden his mother and father.
Beginning nearly three years in the past, he participated in competitions to earn the cash for his innovation. With the prize cash acquired, he has efficiently constructed a solar-powered weed killing machine as we speak, which is a multifaceted agricultural software that considerably reduces the bodily pressure on farmers and is eco-friendly.
Apart from this achievement, he just lately acquired Rs 1 lakh as prize cash on the Indian Silicon Valley problem, a nationwide competitors hosted by the Scaler faculty of expertise.
Right here’s how Ramdhan constructed this innovation:
A ray of hope for small farmers
Ramdhan, who just lately handed Class 12, had a eager eye on fixing agricultural issues via science and expertise. He noticed the hardships confronted by the farmers in Jhalawar – the place a majority of them personal lower than 5 acres of land.
Proper from weed removing to spraying fertilisers, these farmers had two choices, lease costly machines that save time, or rent labourers to do the work inflicting a major dent of their already low revenue.
As {the teenager} regarded for options, he remembered seeing his grandfather utilizing a guide machine to take away weeds.
May he modify it by making it electrical and add a number of choices utilizing expertise?
“Many of the farmers round me, together with my father, used to lease tractors and different machines to sow seeds and take away weeds. The opposite possibility was to rent labourers for 10-12 days. Each choices induced quite a lot of expense to farmers,” shares Ramdhan with The Higher India.
On the age of 15, he sketched the primary prototype of this machine and submitted the entry on the authorities’s INSPIRE Award – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting Nationwide Aspiration and Information). He gained the award and acquired a prize cash of Rs 10,000, which he used to construct his first prototype.
“I wished to construct a machine that might do a number of duties. I wished to stop farmers from lugging round 10 litre spray pumps on their shoulders, which you need to refill every so often,” he provides.
He took his sketch, some outdated cycles and went to a welder who helped him make the machine. His first prototype was a machine which might sow seeds and spray pesticides. Ramdhan laughs as he shares that his machine is a product of jugaad (hack).
Testing the machine was straightforward as his father turned the guinea pig. Seeing the practicality of it, farmers from close by additionally borrowed it, validating {the teenager}’s efforts.
“The farmers favored it and although they needed to manually push it, it was higher than renting machines. I wished to enhance it additional as I noticed that it was serving to them virtually,” he shares.
Subsequent prize cash gained at nationwide science gala’s helped Ramdhan add a motor, batteries and photo voltaic panel, making it electrical. Began when he was in Class 10, he had made his ultimate and third prototype by the point he was in Class 12. Your entire machine was constructed at a price of Rs 30,000.
How the machine works
The machine is in essence, a modified cycle, with a battery, photo voltaic panel, spray pumps on each side and a weed remover within the entrance.
The multi-tasking machine can carry out 4 crucial farming operations – cleansing weeds, drilling seeds, spraying fertiliser and laying manure. It really works on each solar energy and has a battery, for cloudy days.
It may be customised for size and folded for straightforward transportation. The design incorporates simply adjustable components and attachments that mimic the performance of bigger, costlier farming equipment, making it a great answer for small-scale farmers.
“It could do all these totally different duties on the identical time, saving time and vitality. You’ll be able to take away weeds and spray fertilisers on the identical time. It eliminates the necessity for choosing up heavy spray tanks and hiring labourers,” provides Ramdhan.
It additionally comes with a bulb for farmers who want to work at night time and has a charger for the battery.
Ramdhan’s father beams with delight as he speaks about his son’s innovation.
“It made life a lot simpler for me. All guide duties which might take time can now be carried out at a press of a button,” he shares.
The newest prize cash on the Indian Silicon Valley Problem is a shot within the arm for Ramdhan, as he goals to get his machine market prepared.
At the same time as most individuals in his village purpose for a authorities job, Ramdhan is agency on changing into an entrepreneur and making his sensible and cost-effective machine accessible to small-scale farmers throughout the nation.
Along with his household’s assist clearly behind him, Ramdhan continues to refine his invention and goals of wider adoption throughout farms in India.
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“I wish to make the lives of small farmers throughout the nation much less laborious and extra worthwhile,” he concludes.
Edited by Padmashree Pande, Photographs Courtesy Ramdhan Lodha
