Ordinary individuals, extraordinary ideas

Nazeer Ahmed’s livelihood depends on sorting chillies. And his only help is his wife. Till two years back, not only was their daily chore making them fall ill frequently, but productivity suffered too.

Nazeer Ahmed’s livelihood depends on sorting chillies. And his only help is his wife. Till two years back, not only was their daily chore making them fall ill frequently, but productivity suffered too.

HT Image

Today, however, the story is different. Ahmed now puts the chillies into a ‘pounded sorter’ made by him and waits for the finished product.

After Ahmed’s brainchild was picked up by the National Innovation Foundation, India, there has been no looking back.

The Foundation identified innovations across the country, and these farming and innovation concepts are now being developed to be made available commercially. Some of them were provided a platform at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Case studies:

A cutting-edge solution

Shaped like curtain blinds that open up due to air pressure, this windmill conceptualised by T Boomiahchary from Andhra Pradesh may soon become an alternative to the conventional horizontal axis or vertical axis windmills. While this design utilises air pressure to the optimum limit, the prototype is still awaiting formal trial.

To make water available to all dry farming tracts such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, sprinklers mounted on motorcycles and bicycles will bring respite to areas devoid of irrigation facilities. Conceptualised by Mansukhbhai Jagani, this project will soon become a boon for farmers in these areas.

A kit to reduce Petrol wastage

There is good news for bikers and automobile fans in the country. With Assam’s Sib Sanker all set to reduce petrol wastage, this kit will not just modify the engine and transmission system of vehicles, but will also make up for the loss of petrol. While Sanker is still waiting for the patent to be passed, the kit is likely to be priced at R3,000 when sold to automobile companies.

Amla juice, without pulp

This juicer helps take out Amla juice with a never-seen-before ease. With Amla being the main ingredient of sifting in this machine, all one needs to do is put the citrus fruit into the apparatus. This then needs no monitoring, since the seed is automatically weaned out of the fruit to produce a juice that is free of any pulp, unlike other juicers.