P. Krishnakumar, Dell India

YS:  What does Dell classify as SMB?

KK: Our classification is on done the basis of number of employees a business has. So small business would be companies having between 10-99 employees, medium business is 100-999 and then we have SoHos which have between 2-9 employees.

YS: How does Dell market to SMBs? When did you start?

KK: We started focusing on entrepreneurs since 2008, when we realized that as an opportunity. We saw companies in India going outside and acquiring companies. Technology and social media was scaling up. Entrepreneurs wanted to be successful not just in their city or country, but were looking for opportunities across the globe and markets. So we decided to see how technology can solve their business problems.

As part of the journey we did a lot of research and came across some common challenges. The main challenge was that entrepreneurs always had the constraint of finances and predictability of cash flow. The second challenge, was in terms of talent, finding the right talent whom they can retain. And the third was, they knew very well about their own business, but were not too sure if they could use technology effectively to leapfrog their business.

We went deeper into this problem to understand how people looked at technology. Some looked at it purely as a cost and therefore not upgrading technology, because they were asking what do I get in return for the investment. They looked at it as a cost centre. Some looked at it as a business enabler. So these business were happy to use technology and wanted to know what are the right kind of investment to be done. Then there were others who were using technology to leap frog their business. Their business had nothing to do with technology space, but they were using technology to improve efficiencies.

Based on these insights we thought how can we engage with them better? Until 2008, Dell always interacted directly with customers. But we changed our method for SMBs. Around the same time, in 2007, we also set up our factory in India. SMBs dont have too much cash, but when they want to make a purchase, we wanted to be sure we could service the demand. Secondly we setup our distribution channel, so that customers could touch and feel the product, see the product and get it at short notice if they want to buy it immediately.

As we went through this over the last couple of years, we realized this was not enough. From IT investment point of view, most entrepreneurs were relying on channel partners for recommendation of IT, on what investments they should make. The challenge was entrepreneurs have money and want to invest in technology, but they are not sure if the investment they are making in IT infrastructure is right or not. They don’t want to invest disproportionately that it becomes more expensive when they scale up.

We started educating the SMBs and telling them about technology, how it can be scaled, how cost of ownership can be kept low. We also brought in Vostro, our range of products that’s been made specially for small business.

We conduct a lot of road shows, about 18-20 every quarter in Tier 2-3 cities.  We participate directly as Dell or with a financial institution to educate SMBs about the various opportunities available from technology and financial point of view. We directly touch about 1,000 customers per quarter.

YS: How has your strategy of engaging channel partners to reach SMBs helped you?

KK: It is very important. Say you are starting a company and have 15 employees, but for 15 – 20 people you will not have an IT person in your office. If something goes down, you want someone who can take care of the problem and fix it. Most SMBs have outsourced their IT maintenance to a third-party, who comes to their office and can fix any problem that may arise. So it could a network printer that needs fixing or a computer issue that has to be resolved.

This third-party service provider is someone the entrepreneur trusts and relies on for most IT advice. We have tied with a large number of such IT providers to help reach these entrepreneurs. We also provide training to these people. So these SMBs can be told about our products and the benefits by their own IT service provider. If an entrepreneur wants to talk to us directly, we have no problem. But we want to give them as many options as possible to reach us.

YS: Did Dell undertake any research before targeting the SMB segment?

KK: Yes, we did that at a global level and also did on-ground research in India, China and US. We also used our online portal Idea Storm, where we encouraged users and small biz to come with ideas and what features they would like to see in the product. That encourages people to come and give us ideas and based on that we come up with products and solutions they want.

YS: How do you market to SMBs?

KK: We do the road shows, that I spoke about earlier. We track all the leads and enquiries we get at these shows for six months and about 20-30% of the leads get converted. We also have a Linkedin platform that we use to engage with small businesses. Its called ‘More Growth’ and currently we have 22,000 members in the group.

YS: How is the SMB business  growing for Dell?

KK: It’s the fastest growing segment for us, not just in India but even from global point of view it’s the fastest. Dell is the only IT company which has stated publicly how we are going to focus on the SMBs and how we are going to help them grow. There is an overlap between small and medium business and that would be about 25-28%. This is roughly about one-third of our business that comes from the space.

YS: In the SMB space, which cities in India are growing fastest for Dell?

KK: I cannot give you city-wise breakup. But from an SMB perspective, the business and opportunity for us is coming from the Tier 1 & Tier 2 cities, where we are seeing the growth and maximum benefit from the adoption of technology. There are specific cities within that, where for example there is a concentration of IT services, like say Bangalore, and these cities are important. But overall if you see, the growth is happening from Tier 2-3 cities.

preethi@yourstory.in

As the noise around Union Budget 2013 increases, everyone is getting their wishlist out. The finance minister of India will be the most sought after person for the next few days. Most thought leaders and industry bigwigs want the budget to rein in inflation, provide for tax regimes and put the economy back on a growth trajectory.  The small but growing army of entrepreneurs in our country may still not have strong lobbies to influence the North Block, but they surely have concerns and hopes that they want the Union Budget to address this year. We spoke to a group of entrepreneurs from two of the most vibrant startup cities in India – Bangalore and Mumbai and here is their list of demands from the Union Budget.

T P Pratap, co-founder, QwikCilver.com, Bangalore

T P Pratap, QwikCilver

On IP protection: There should be incentives given to first -gen startup companies focused on unique product IP developments as compared to trading or reselling focused startup entities. Startups with new IP Product concepts don’t always have large toplines and profits for the first 5 years. Waiver of corporate taxes is hence not relevant to this sector. Waivers of service taxes on rents paid, lower charges on expenses for electricity, power would help reduce costs of operations and sustain the business longer.

On attracting talent into the sector: Zero income tax upto Rs 10 lakh salary and lower subsequent IT slabs for employees of startups would help startups attract talent with lower cash burns and payouts.

On FDI in eCommerce: FDI in segments that are focused on eCommerce will enable the use and permit single brand as well as multibrand sales.

On incentivizing startups: Indian tech product startups that have potential in global markets should be given additional Incentives. Just as Indian IT services sector has been encouraged over the last two decades. There are various bottlenecks in opening branches in other cities, this should be simplified to encourage tech product startups.

Vineet Devaiah, founder & CEO, Teliportme.com, Bangalore

I wish something can be done about the immigration laws in our country. It is not easy to hire people from the US to work for us. There are many restrictions if you want to hire a foreign national.

V Narayan Raman, CEO, Tyto Software, Bangalore

The taxes that we pay as entrepreneurs don’t make any sense. There are too many taxes with no clarity on what is compulsory and what is not. A lot of startups just end up paying double taxes to avoid any backlash. The finance minister must work on making things clearer for startups.

Gaurav Mendiratta, CEO, Socio Square, Mumbai

Gaurav Mendiratta, Socio Square

On service tax: The current service tax stands at 12.36 % is now passed on to the client, if this is reduced the client would rather spend more on the services we provide. As experts have suggested this might never happen, but having different slabs for different kind of services or slab based service taxes( i.e lower percentage tax on higher spends) based on spends could work well for everyone.

On making debt-raising easier for startups: Debt-raising is always against a collateral, which makes life difficult for an entrepreneur. Today there are investors who would invest mere Rs 5 lakhs and take 5-7.5% equity in a startup. The entrepreneurs may not have a choice as they need this money to bridge the gap between their current state and a larger VC/angel investment.  If debt raising was made easier for legitimate start-ups they would not have to sell their own stake so cheap!

Hitesh Mehta, co-founder, Singchana.com, Mumbai

Hitesh Mehta, Singchana.com

On support from banks: Encourage banks to give debt funding at low interest rates /easy-flexible payments balanced with some retro-active compensation etc. Setup minimum limit of collateral free debt for startups bringing innovation and with a potential to reach unexplored markets like rural India as well as international markets. Banks should recognize intangible IP(with or without proof of concept) as a collateral for giving funds to startups.

On policy changes: Government should bring initiatives and frame appropriate policies on the lines of MDA-Singapore to foster entrepreneurship. Encouraging standardisation in Media & Entertainment laws across all mediums will help boost startups like us operating in the space.

Who can apply:

Categories:

The Innovation can be a product / service / project / process / procedure / methodology developed for the rural sector by the participant. The innovation must be already implemented and should not be in a planning or conceptualizing stage. The innovation should be implemented between January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2011.

The Participant may apply for the Awards as indicated below:

• Download from website: Participants can visit the website www.nabard.org and download the application form from the website.
• NABARD Office: Participants can also contact nearest NABARD Regional Office/ District Office to get a hard copy of Application form.
• Filled in application form along with the supporting (photographs / certificates / video clippings, etc.) should be sent to the address mentioned below before May 15, 2012 by5:00 pm.
• Send your entries superscribing “Application for NABARD Awards for Rural Innovations” to: CGM, DPD-NFS, NABARD, Plot No.C- 24, G – Block , Bandra Kurla Complex , Post Box No. 8121 Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400051. Contact no. 022 – 26524207

To find out more and download the application form click here. 

IKP Knowledge Park (IKP) in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has launched IKP-Grand Challenges Explorations (IKP-GCE) to identify, fund and nurture revolutionary ideas that address global health challenges. The goal of the IKP-GCE program is to empower Ideas – ideas that will create new drugs, diagnostics, devices, vaccines, delivery systems and service models that can be made available to all socio-economic layers of the human population.

IKP-GCE is in the final stages of accepting innovative proposals from innovators across the country. Over 300 teams have already registered to submit their proposals. If you have an innovation that will address developing world issues such as infectious diseases, child and maternal health, nutrition and family planning, then do apply at www.ikp-gce.com. Last date to submit your entry is December 15^th, 2011

Winners of IKP-GCE will

• Receive a grant of USD 100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Receive mentoring from IKP Knowledge Park for a period of 18 months, and gain access to technical consulting, networking opportunities, and lab facilities
• Be eligible to apply for Phase II funding of up to USD 1Million.

Please visit www.ikp-gce.com to apply.

:: Chandan Raj

While one can always analyse realms of data to argue either sides, what is most important is to look at “evidence on the ground” and decide whether Patenting is indeed beneficial and under what circumstances.

To provide some perspective, the Intellectual capability of a person which can be termed as ‘Intellectual Capital’ has always been respected right from the Guru Shishya (Master & Student) tradition whereby the Guru was respected & rewarded by Shishya mostly in kind by taking care of the Guru’s personal needs and running chores for him but the Guru was never provided with large financial benefits.

An analogy can be drawn with the current Education System in India, whereby Teachers have been by and large not adequately compensated for their knowledge & values inculcated in Students at an early age.

This has led to a parallel “Coaching Class” system, where the Student pays a much larger amount of money to the Coaching Class owners who are mostly Teachers to gain knowledge he or she is supposed to imbibe in School.

So one way of looking at it is the failure of the current Education system to adequately compensate Teachers and provided due respect by the entire Education system comprising of Students, Administrators & the Govt.

So ideally one can argue that Knowledge should be free and Intellectual Capital should be shared with one and all, the reality is the Intellectual Capital owner needs to be recognised and rewarded to thrive and benefit the Society.

For any Technology Innovator, the quest to get recognition in any form and acceptance of his or her idea by the mainstream public is the biggest challenge and incentive. At the same time, financial reward which will help the Innovator invest back in his or her work and enjoy the fruits of hard work & intellect is equally important although it may not be explicitly expressed by them.

A classic example of the same is the case of an eminent Scientist working with a leading Indian pharmaceutical company whereby he solved a tough chemistry problem posted on www.innocentive.com leading to a cash award of USD 75,000 and a plaque.

His employer took the stance that the Scientist used company’s time and resources to solve the problem so he has no right to claim the money which went into the company’s a/c and he was left only with a plaque!!

The Scientist was disillusioned by the treatment meted out by his Employer and the lack of recognition which prompted him to leave the company and join another competitor. So when a Patent is granted for solving a technology problem it does certify the competency of the Innovator for his Intellectual Capital but how it does benefit the Society and layman.

The most important benefit is the launch of a new product or process which improves the quality of lives of a certain segment of people in the Society which wouldn’t have been possible if there was no protection for inventions leading to new products & technology.

And directly related is the strong incentive to Scientists & Researchers who get an opportunity to be recognised as Inventors in the Patent and financial rewards shared by the organisation they work with directly improving their productivity manifold.

This is akin to the incentive enjoyed by Sales staff & Investment Bankers for bring new clients on board and closing deals.

Also it is very relevant in case of Govt. Research Labs where the technology commercialisation track record is extremely poor and the same can get tackled in part by encouraging developing new technologies, patenting the same and partnering with Industry for commercialising the same leading to a win-win scenario.

Another benefit which gets often over looked is avoiding duplication of creation of new knowledge which is the foundation for the patent system. In short “Do not reinvent the wheel” but use “the wheel to create new & useful products”.

Imagine, the kind of R&D money which is typically wasted to solve the same problem (For e.g. Biomass stove) but if there is a protocol which restricts development to ideas which are either patentable or works on existing patents, R&D productivity will shoot up exponentially and a lot more relevant products will hit the market shelves.

And from a consumer point of view, patented products are perceived as superior which also helps the Marketer brand the product and differentiate from spurious products in the market.

So to summarise, the key reasons to patent are -

• Commercialisation of technology / product
• Marketing differentiator
• Recognition to the Inventors
• Sharing of new knowledge to avoid “reinvention of the wheel” thereby exponentially improving R&D productivity
• Improving enterprise value

And when “not to patent” -

• No intention to commercialise idea
• Do not want to directly make money from the idea

So as the debate rages on, the focus should be on commercialisation and the subsequent benefits for the Society which outweighs all other factors.

Digital Green’s aim is “to raise the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the developing world through the targeted production and dissemination of agricultural information via participatory video and mediated instruction through grassroots-level partnerships.” Banihalli is one among the many villages that Rikin transverses in the four Indian states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Jharkhand.

Born and brought up in the US, Rikin holds degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Masters in Aeronautical and Astronomical Engineering) and Carnegie Mellon (Bachelors in Computer Science).

A trained pilot, he was all set to join the US Astronaut programme. While waiting for his US Air Force application to be cleared, he joined Oracle in California. A chance visit to India during that time gave him his first exposure to rural India.

The exposure as well as the realisation that 60 percent of his native country’s population relied on agriculture for livelihood made Rikin rethink on his goals. Interacting with the rural folks, he felt that use of technology could improve their economic well being and he prepared himself to reconnect with his roots for a bigger cause.

“I have been reading autobiographies of astronauts, who see the earth from above with new perspective. They become very philosophical; think about the futility of wars and human greed. Many become farmers, teachers and go all the way to reconnect with people,” says Rikin, adding that going into space was like getting fifteen minutes of fame while working for small and marginal farmers and transforming their lives was more meaningful.

So, what could be called a case of reverse brain drain happened with Rikin joining Microsoft Research in Bangalore as a researcher in the technology for emerging markets in 2006.

Today, Digital Green is active in making videos of better farm practices using the villagers, after training them. The videos are then shown to small groups of villagers on laptops, DVD, village cable network and screens.

“These are simple videos starring local villagers that strike a chord with fellow villagers. We have taken feedback and found 70-80 percent farmers adopting new ideas as opposed to 10-15 percent earlier by traditional extension approach,” says Rikin, who has enabled production of thousands of such local videos.

Selected as an Ashoka fellow and included in the 2010 list of world’s young innovators in Technology Review 35 (published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Rikin made Digital Green an independent organisation in 2009, which is now supported by Bill Gates Foundation.

Having covered some 500 villages and with a target of 1200 in two years, Digital Green is going global as Rikin starts work in Ethiopia and Uganda in a couple of months. On the reaction of his parents, who had migrated to US for better opportunities, Rikin says they were initially apprehensive but when they saw his work, they were quite excited. by By Kavita Kanan Chandra from Mumbai

A steel fork is connected to the axle and the other end carries different kinds of attachments.

Separate attachments for weeding, tilling and harrowing are attached to the working end, using bolts and nuts.

This helps in changing the attachments as required. Suitable slots in the device are provided for adjusting the distance between blades to suit specific requirements.

Safety provisions are incorporated so that the blade does not injure the user at the time of reversing the device during weeding operations,” explains Mr. Bhise.

“People laughed at me in the beginning, but I never gave up. Perseverance finally paid off and today my Krishiraja is received well in the local market,” says the poor farmer proudly.

The tiller attachment enables the farmers to cultivate medium-hard soil up to a depth of about one foot.

Mr. Gopal uses the device to carry out most of the farming operations. He no more needs bullocks. So far more than 200 devices are currently being used by farmers in the region.

Priced at Rs 1,200, a person can weed 0.08 ha in one hour. It is easy to operate and suited for those who cannot afford bullocks.

More than 200 farmers are today using the multi-purpose cycle weeder. It gives the much needed independence to a small farmer who does not own bullocks or a tractor.

A goat shed was constructed on her farm with financial assistance from the University, which also supplied her with about 5 female and 1 male Tellicherry goats.

Tellicherry goats are mainly reared for mutton purposes, and stall feeding is highly suitable for this breed. “In about 3 years I have earned about Rs. 75,000 from the sale of goats alone,” she said.

But why did she prefer to pay more attention to goat rearing when cattle would have been a better option? “Rearing goats is relatively easier compared to cattle as the expenditure involved in goat rearing is less when compared to cattle.

“The feed for my animals is mostly grown in my field. In fact I spend about only Rs. 2 per day as feed cost for one animal.

“A female goat gives birth to 4 kids in a year and the kids are sold for Rs, 2,000 each when they attain 3-4 months of age.

“Also, selling the goats is easy when compared to cattle as there are no middlemen involved, as farmers approach me directly if they need any animals. The cost factor is small when compared to that of cattle.

Farmers can easily pay the small amount for buying the goat kids unlike that of cattle which costs several thousands. In short, goats are similar to ATM cards which can be used to get money in times of emergency,” said the enterprising lady.

Innovates to Make Agriculture easy

“IT IS a fallacy to think that innovation is a high-end activity that takes place only in sophisticated laboratories. “Innovation encompasses technological innovation, a fresh way of management or a different way of doing the same task, but which would result in better performance,” said Smt Pratibha Patil, President of India, at a meeting in New Delhi to honour grass root innovators.

Wasteful expenditure When crores of rupees are being spent for agriculture by the Government every year for developing new machines and systems to help farmers, the sad fact is that either the machines developed are not popular, or in some cases fail to meet the expected requirement. But a farmer in Assam, Mr. Uddhab Bharali, developed more than 85 engineering devices for different purposes in agriculture. Out of these thirteen are commercialised. Mr. Bharali set up a research workshop to help local communities and industries solve their technological needs in his hometown of North Lakshimpur on the banks of the river Brahmaputra. Natural flair “I believe that developing new machines comes naturally to me and it is this flair which helped me repay my father’s debts by starting a polythene film making industry to cater to the demand from the surrounding tea estates,” says Mr. Bharali. He designed and developed a new polythene making machine at a subsidised cost of sixty seven thousand rupees, when company made machines were priced at Rs. 4 lakh. The success of this machine gave Mr. Bharali the confidence to develop more machines. After repaying his father’s debts, he got a contract for maintenance of machinery in a hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh near the Indo-China border. Some of the other machines which he developed are: Pomegranate de seederwhich separates the outer hard skin and the thin inner membrane without damaging the seeds. Using this machine one can easily deseed 50-55 kg of pomegranates in an hour. The machine has been exported to Turkey and the U.S. Arecanut peeler Manual peeling of areca nuts is a cumbersome job and there are chances of fingers getting cut. Mr. Bharali developed an areca nut peeling machine with a capacity to peel 100-120 nuts in a minute. Another device, the cassava peeler is a portable electric machine that can process up to 5 kg of cassava per minute. Mr. Bharali developed an assembly of machines that performs operations such as splitting long lengths of bamboo, sizing, surface finishing and polishing them. These units are installed with the help of the National Innovation Foundation at North Cachar hills. Other innovations In addition to the above, the farmer also developed remi recortication machine, garlic peeling machine, tobacco leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane stripping machine, brass utensil polishing machine, safed musli peeling machine, jatropha de-seeder, mechanised weeding machine, passion fruit juice extractor, trench digger and a chopper for cattle and fisheries feed. Many of the innovations are popular in foreign countries. The Central Silk board sought his guidance to redesign a sophisticated reeling machine. He also designed a stevia pulveriser & passion fruit gel extractor for North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCRMP). Resource scholar Mr. Bharaliis also a resource scholar for the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship and a technical consultant to Rural Technology Action Group (RUTAG) for the development of technology at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati

The women of Mann Deshi Mahila in India’s rural North Karnataka district have just introduced another innovation in a series of self-help initiatives that began in 1997 with the creation of the first rural financial institution in India to receive a cooperative banking license. They have created a mobile business school that will take information and training to the rural areas where women live.

Annual rainfall of only 5 inches has slowed local agriculture due to continuously poor harvest and high farmer indebtedness; of those who have not gone to urban centers in search of work, many live in poverty.

Early in life women have to shoulder responsibilities  and their illiteracy rate is as high . While emigration has always been a problem, the area has recently attracted media attention due to a high rate of suicide among farmers.

The Mann dehsi Mahila sahakari bank run by and for women in rural Maharashtra, works with two NGOs, Mann Vikas Samajik Sanstha (Mann Vikas), established in 1994, and Mann Deshi Mahila Bachat Gat Federation (Self Help Group Federation), to achieve the goals of empowerment, asset creation, leadership development, capacity building, and property rights for women.

The Bank has grown from an initial shareholder capitalization of 600,000 rupees (US$15,000) to total assets of 90 million rupees (US$2,250,000) in 2005-2006. It has helped create nearly 17,000 women entrepreneurs, has a repayment rate of 97.5%, a profit of 232,000 rupees, three branches, more than 6,200 members and 58,000 clients, conducts 4,250 transactions daily, and won first prize in social sector of the international 2005 Ashoka Changemakers Innovation award.

Mann Vikas promotes girls education provides women with health education student scholarships, vocational skills training, and information regarding life insurance; offers classes on commerce, marketing, and management; runs two agricultural collectives that help make milk, livestock, and grain available at affordable rates; and offers fodder insurance for agriculture loans during dry spells. The federation includes more than 2,300 self-help groups (SHG) each with 10 to 20 members, self-employed women from each sector of the local economy. Groups receive loans directly from the Bank and, with additional support from the Indian government, conduct lending activities.

In September 2007, with the help of Deshpande Foundation and Ashoka Foundation, Mann Deshi and Mann Vikas began a five-year project to offer financial services to women (formal and informal) and establish a Business School for Rural Women that will make courses accessible to rural women who cannot attend the central location in Hubli. Travelling from village to village within the Hubli-Dharwad area, the Business School on Wheels will offer training in technical and practical business skills that will enable women to expand or start new businesses, which will in turn be supported with start-up micro-loans. Financial services offered will be coupled with comprehensive and accessible financial literacy training. Local NGOs advise the business school on locations where mobile classrooms can be held. The leaders of village SHGs coordinate the local logistics in their villages.

Bank founder/entrepreneur Chetna Gala Sinha, an economist, farmer, and activist, has been honored nationally with the 2005 Jankidevi Bajaj Puraskar award for rural entrepreneurship, and by by Yale and Harvard Universities.

North-eastern Bihar accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the global makhana production. A pioneer in its cultivation, Kedar Nath Jha of Ujjan village of Manigachhi (Madhubani district) raises this crop in about 70 ponds taken on lease from others. He grows and markets the crop himself. “Cultivation was uneconomical earlier due to the low price paid by traders in this remote rural area with poor communication and market information facilities.

“I started makhana cultivation in the mid-nineties and started marketing it in the Varanasi markets and have not looked back since then. I harvest about 1,000 to 1,500 kgs of makhana from a hectare of pond and earn about Rs. 17 lakhs in a year,” he says.

“Sowing is generally done during December-January and the seeds are sown at a distance of 1 to 1.5 metres on the water surface. About 80 kg of seeds are required for an hectare of pond.

The crop flowers during April and the flower comes above the water surface and again dips into the water within 3-4 days for fruit formation.

The fruits burst during June-July and float on the water surface for 24 to 48 hrs and sink to the bottom and are later collected (during September-October).

Mr. Jha has his own processing units and employs a dozen skilled labourers for processing the seeds.

This is still done by the traditional methods such as drying under sun, size based grading, storage, boiling of the seeds, frying and popping.

“I spend Rs. 20,000 to 25,000 for growing this crop and earn an average net income of Rs 40,000-50,000 per hectare.”

Entrepreneur Satyajeet Kumar Singh who has established a modern makhana processing plant at Patna by investing of Rs.70 crore and has also established linkages with farmers spread over in eight districts.  His network currently covers more than four thousand farmers and his Sudha Shakti Industry and Centres of khet se bazaar tak (from field to the market) network for increasing production and organizing marketing is paying dividends to a large number of farmers.

If farmers in Bihar properly exploit this crop, they will have the potential to produce makhana worth more than Rs. 400-500 crores.

Kottrapatti village in Pudukottai district is like any other village in the country. But the incidence of widows in this village and surrounding areas is quite high.

Having lost their husbands, the ladies were finding it difficult to carry on with their daily work and also take care of their children.

Most of them were unable to obtain one square meal a day or send their children to school. They were neglected and in some cases sexually exploited by some male members in their village.

The women were also trained to produce their own organic inputs.

says Mrs. R. Maruthambal, a lady farmer:

“I lost my husband, a chronic alcoholic, seven years ago, and found it difficult to take care of my three children. With no money and work. I did not know what to do for food. I even contemplated suicide, but backed out at the last moment because of my children. But today my life is better, thanks to Kudumbam. My two children are going to school and I am able to lead a decent life,”

Another beneficiary, Mrs. M. Pakkiyam, says:

“After my husband died in an accident 5 years ago, my in-laws chased me out of the house labelling me a misfortune.

“My parents were also not keen to take me back as they had three other daughters who needed to get married. I turned into a vagabond overnight with no food and shelter. If not for these people I would have killed myself.” At present there are about 15women in this group and all of them are taking active interest in the work.

A portion of the harvested produce is kept for food and some is saved for sowing in the next season. The rest is sold and the income is equally divided among all the members.

In order to increase the economic development of the women, a revolving fund of Rs. 20,000 has been created.

Members can avail loans from this fund and repay it in easy monthly instalments. In fact, this fund has reduced their dependency on private moneylenders who charge a heavy interest which ranges from 40 to 60 per cent on the loans.

Kudumbam an NGO in Tiruchi has been responsible for all these developmental works.

The tribals were trained to use the motorised small scale gel extraction machine, and in processes for value added products such as Aloe vera juice, squash and RTS beverage with/without blend of lemon, ginger and mint extracts, at the PHT centre, Udaipur.

Between December 2008 and February 2009, the unit produced about 500 litres of Aloe vera juice. Processed and bottled Aloe juice was launched for sale to general public and tourists as a health drink.

At present the processing unit is running successfully. Effective aloe juice recovery is about 30% as the plantation is under rainfed condition on Aravali hills. Total cost of production of Aloe vera juice is Rs 40 per litre with sale price as Rs 100 per litre, with a net profit of Rs 60 per litre.

The low sale price has been fixed after considering the prevailing market price of Rs 200 to 550 per litre juice. Local tribals and members of Van Suraksha evam Prabandh Samiti are earning profit by sale of Aloe vera juice.

Aloe vera is a plant of great potential and value in the field of therapeutic pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries, and in Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicines, it is particularly useful for treatment of burns, bleeding wounds, as eye drops for sore eyes.

Aloe vera gel comprises 75 nutrients, 200 active compounds, 20 minerals, 18 amino acids and 12 vitamins. There is about 125 ha of Aloe vera plantation in the adjoining area of the processing unit within the Ogna forest area of Udaipur district, which amounts to 12.5 lakh plants of Aloe vera.

These plantings were done by the Forest Department on degraded forest land for conservation under different schemes since 1996-97. However, due to lack of awareness and non-availability of simple technology for value addition at production catchment, tribal people were getting little or no monetary benefit from this large Aloe vera plantation.

From November 2009 to January 2010, the group handled approximately 4 tonnes of aloe leaf and produced 950 litres of aloe juice. The expenditure on labour, electricity, preservative (KMS), bottles, cans, etc. has been estimated as Rs 31,000. As the raw material i.e. Aloe leaf is a forest produce and managed by Van Surakshya Avam Praband Samiti, Atatiya hence no cost has been incurred for aloe leaf.

The building for housing the principal equipment and product was provided by the Forest Department, Government of Rajasthan. Therefore, with a revenue of Rs 95,000 obtained @ Rs 100/litre against the expenditure of Rs 31,000, a net profit of Rs 64,000 was realized for the duration.

This Aloe vera processing unit established with an investment of Rs 70,000/ is providing employment to 8 persons/ day (collection of leaf, processing, packaging and marketing). The unit can be effectively operated from September to February i.e, 6 months in a year, while the cost of unit could be recovered in almost three months. Quality raw material (aloe leaves) are not available from March to September, as the production area is rainfed hill forest.

This is the first such processing unit in underdeveloped tribal area of the Rajasthan for livelihood strengthening, economic empowerment and conservation of forest. The success of its Aloe vera processing unit has encouraged the entrepreneurship among the tribal farmers of this area.

As other fellow farmers were doing cabbage farming in her village, she also took-up cabbage cultivation but it could not contribute much to her income. Meanwhile, a group of agriculture scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) visited her village for interaction with farmers.

Scientists provided them information regarding work done at Ranichauri hill campus. It was decided that a first line demonstration will be organized in Kharif season for the benefit of farmers

As per schedule, scientists demonstrated the first line demonstration of soybean in the field of 28 farmers. Farmers got around 10.5 quintal/hectare production which is more then what they were getting from their previous crop.

This demonstration encouraged them to do some experiment with their traditional farming techniques. Second step in this direction was another first line demonstration in Rabi season by the KVK’s scientists. This time, they got around 24% more production which is 23 quintal/hectare.

Scientists came to know that farmers are not having knowledge of off-seasonal vegetables which can contribute in their income handsomely. This area had the model ecological conditions for growing off-seasonal vegetables. Farmer’s enthusiasm encouraged scientists to provide them the technical know-how for non seasonal vegetables.

Under this programme, 28 farmers trained for raising a good nursery of Challenger (cabbage) and Manisha (Tomato) varieties with the use of vermicompost and organic fertilizers. Rukmani Devi was one of the beneficiaries of this programme. She got 100 plants for farming.

She invested merely Rs 25.50 for cabbage farming but the income was much more then the invested money. She earned Rs 600 by selling 60 Kg cabbage at 10 Rs/Kg rate. She saved another 10 Kg cabbage for her household consumption. Thus, she could get a bumper crop of 240 quintal/ hectare of cabbage.
This is the first time that Rukmani earned money out of vegetable farming. She is grateful to the scientists for showing her a new way of economic independence

Economics of off-seasonal cabbage farming was very attractive for the farmers. Now, many more farmers are approaching to scientists to get their help. Thanks to initiatives taken by Rukmani Devi.

(NAIP Sub-Project on Mass Media Mobilization, DIPA with inputs from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar)Rukmani Devi is a senior citizen from Sondhaar village, Block Jakahnidar in Uttranchal. She has only 0.2 hectare farm land, house and a buffalo as property. Her soaring economic condition forced her to earn livelihood through farming. Her courage to take initiative and choosing new varieties for farming changed her life forever. Now, she is showing a way of prosperity to young farmers

As other fellow farmers were doing cabbage farming in her village, she also took-up cabbage cultivation but it could not contribute much to her income. Meanwhile, a group of agriculture scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) visited her village for interaction with farmers.

Scientists provided them information regarding work done at Ranichauri hill campus. It was decided that a first line demonstration will be organized in Kharif season for the benefit of farmers

As per schedule, scientists demonstrated the first line demonstration of soybean in the field of 28 farmers. Farmers got around 10.5 quintal/hectare production which is more then what they were getting from their previous crop.

This demonstration encouraged them to do some experiment with their traditional farming techniques. Second step in this direction was another first line demonstration in Rabi season by the KVK’s scientists. This time, they got around 24% more production which is 23 quintal/hectare.

Scientists came to know that farmers are not having knowledge of off-seasonal vegetables which can contribute in their income handsomely. This area had the model ecological conditions for growing off-seasonal vegetables. Farmer’s enthusiasm encouraged scientists to provide them the technical know-how for non seasonal vegetables.

Under this programme, 28 farmers trained for raising a good nursery of Challenger (cabbage) and Manisha (Tomato) varieties with the use of vermicompost and organic fertilizers. Rukmani Devi was one of the beneficiaries of this programme. She got 100 plants for farming.

She invested merely Rs 25.50 for cabbage farming but the income was much more then the invested money. She earned Rs 600 by selling 60 Kg cabbage at 10 Rs/Kg rate. She saved another 10 Kg cabbage for her household consumption. Thus, she could get a bumper crop of 240 quintal/ hectare of cabbage.
This is the first time that Rukmani earned money out of vegetable farming. She is grateful to the scientists for showing her a new way of economic independence

Economics of off-seasonal cabbage farming was very attractive for the farmers. Now, many more farmers are approaching to scientists to get their help. Thanks to initiatives taken by Rukmani Devi.

(NAIP Sub-Project on Mass Media Mobilization, DIPA with inputs from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar)Rukmani Devi is a senior citizen from Sondhaar village, Block Jakahnidar in Uttranchal. She has only 0.2 hectare farm land, house and a buffalo as property. Her soaring economic condition forced her to earn livelihood through farming. Her courage to take initiative and choosing new varieties for farming changed her life forever. Now, she is showing a way of prosperity to young farmers

As other fellow farmers were doing cabbage farming in her village, she also took-up cabbage cultivation but it could not contribute much to her income. Meanwhile, a group of agriculture scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) visited her village for interaction with farmers.

Scientists provided them information regarding work done at Ranichauri hill campus. It was decided that a first line demonstration will be organized in Kharif season for the benefit of farmers

As per schedule, scientists demonstrated the first line demonstration of soybean in the field of 28 farmers. Farmers got around 10.5 quintal/hectare production which is more then what they were getting from their previous crop.

This demonstration encouraged them to do some experiment with their traditional farming techniques. Second step in this direction was another first line demonstration in Rabi season by the KVK’s scientists. This time, they got around 24% more production which is 23 quintal/hectare.

Scientists came to know that farmers are not having knowledge of off-seasonal vegetables which can contribute in their income handsomely. This area had the model ecological conditions for growing off-seasonal vegetables. Farmer’s enthusiasm encouraged scientists to provide them the technical know-how for non seasonal vegetables.

Under this programme, 28 farmers trained for raising a good nursery of Challenger (cabbage) and Manisha (Tomato) varieties with the use of vermicompost and organic fertilizers. Rukmani Devi was one of the beneficiaries of this programme. She got 100 plants for farming.

She invested merely Rs 25.50 for cabbage farming but the income was much more then the invested money. She earned Rs 600 by selling 60 Kg cabbage at 10 Rs/Kg rate. She saved another 10 Kg cabbage for her household consumption. Thus, she could get a bumper crop of 240 quintal/ hectare of cabbage.
This is the first time that Rukmani earned money out of vegetable farming. She is grateful to the scientists for showing her a new way of economic independence

Economics of off-seasonal cabbage farming was very attractive for the farmers. Now, many more farmers are approaching to scientists to get their help. Thanks to initiatives taken by Rukmani Devi.

(NAIP Sub-Project on Mass Media Mobilization, DIPA with inputs from GBPUA&T, Pantnagar)

One of the many interesting aspects of this garden is the use of two different types of containers.  Initially, being unable to use the boxes Shri purchased, from the company near Bannerghatta Road, due to their interference with his RWH system, he began with 22 regular earthen pots that he placed in a sunny patch on the terrace.

And then, earlier this year, at a workshop by Dr B N Vishwanath (a pioneer in promoting urban agriculture, who regularly conducts workshops on organic terrace gardening), Shri got further impetus to expand his terrace garden experiment! He learnt to make his own terrace garden containers with deal wood (recycled packing material) and a metal frame, that he now uses on his terrace.

The initial investment he made for the pots, boxes, compost and said was around Rs 5000. Now he spends anywhere between Rs 100-200 every three months.

Shri is next looking to make his garden as self-sustaining as possible and minimise the inputs needed from outside such as soil and fertiliser. He also does not want to increase the water consumption significantly for the garden. He has just started experiementing with growing fruits like guava, pomegranate and sapota.

These entrepreneurial brothers own two acres of land, and produce just enough paddy to feed their families. As cultivating paddy is a water-intensive task, drawing out large amounts of groundwater was difficult due to frequent power cuts. Moreover, the alternative of pumping out water using a diesel set was too expensive and hand-pumping required a lot of effort. This set the brothers thinking, and in 2003 they came up with a solution that was a much cheaper and effective alternative. They invented a simple windmill using bamboo and a tin sheet, and attached it to a hand-pump.

The genesis of their invention is interesting, given the fact that the brothers are educated only up to higher secondary level and have no technical background. While looking around for an answer to their problem, their eyes fell on the movement of a sewing machine.

They observed how the circular motion of the wheel resulted in the up-and-down movement of the needle. This formed a rough impression of how their solution would work. However, the major problem of how they would generate enough energy to make it function still remained.

The solution to this came when one day they were watching kites, and a sudden gust of wind made them soar higher. They concluded that a large wheel, moving by the power of wind, could be attached to the handle of a hand-pump to pump out water continuously. They made their first prototype using bamboo, old tyres, iron, and so on. How the innovation took shape -

The basic model of the windmill consisted of a tower-like structure, made of two parallel bamboo posts. These were connected using an iron shaft, which in turn mounted the blades of the windmill. The wind makes the blades move, thus rotating the shaft. Being connected to the handle of the hand-pump, the rotating motion of the shaft results in the pumping out of water. However, this static model of the windmill has several advantages and disadvantages.
Cost: Rs 6,000 (Static Model) / Rs 40,000 (Improvised Model)

Made of inexpensive, locally available materials, such as bamboo and aluminum sheets, made it much cheaper than traditional windmills. Moreover, the entire unit could be assembled and dismantled in an hour, making it portable. No foundation was required for installation as the bamboo poles could be erected by digging holes in the ground. On the flip side, as the blades were static, they rotate only when facing the direction of the wind. Second, being light in weight, it did not withstand high-velocity wind. Third, there was no brake system in this design—it has to be stopped by inserting a wooden pole between the blades. Fourth, compared to traditional windmills made from sturdy materials, bamboo has a shorter life. This limited its use in all seasons, especially during the rains and the winter.

As the popularity of the windmill slowly spread, another innovator, Karunakanth Nath, whose innovation was already being supported by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) North East, introduced it to the organization. The NIF awarded it a cash prize and a certificate from former President Abdul Kalam. Says Mushtaq “That was the proudest moment of my life.”

The National innovation Foundation supported the innovation through its offshoot Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) by providing funds. It started working on the defects of the windmill. Several were installed in IIT-Guwahati for technical analysis. At around the same time, GIAN West installed a prototype of the windmill in Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat for salt farming on an experimental basis. India, with an average annual salt production of 157 lakh tonnes, is the third largest salt producer in the world. However, according to GIAN’s estimates, for producing 1,000 tonnes of salt, a salt farmer has to spend approximately Rs 1 lakh, of which nearly Rs 60,000 is spent on fuel for diesel sets for pumping out saline water. According to Mushtaq, “The response that we received was very positive. Our windmill proved to be cheaper as well as effective.” The two brothers have definitely added their names in the Indian rural innovation chapter.

In his six acre land Mr. Mathew has been growing about 220 coconut trees, banana, ginger, nutmeg, cocoa, black pepper, elephant foot yam, tapioca and areca nut as intercrops. The crops have been able to fetch him a gross income of Rs. 1, 27, 000 a year.

He constructed a thatched shed with concrete flooring and compartments, with a capacity to house 30 sows and 250 piglets at a time. Thirty 75 day- old piglets (4 males) of Duroc and White Yorkshire breeds were procured from Government pig farms in Kerala and the unit was started in September 2004. Within 16 months each sow delivered 8-12 piglets.

The piglets were reared up to 60-75 days and then sold at Rs.1,500 each. He was also disposing of male and old pigs for pork. So far he has sold about 25 adults (around 2,500 kg of pork) in 2006. He also sold 200 piglets in 2006, keeping the remaining piglets as parental stock.

He spends about Rs.1,000 per month on medicines and veterinary care for his animals and has also engaged a labourer to look after the unit, paying him Rs.6,000 as salary per month.

He started his quail unit in 2006 with about 200 birds (45 day-old chicks). The quails are reared scientifically under the cage system. The quails started egg laying at 60 days of age. At present he is able to collect about 180 eggs per day.

The eggs are sold at the rate of Re.1 per egg, earning him an income of Rs.180 per day He has earned an amount of Rs. 32,400 within six months.

The farmer has become a successful model especially in pig breeding. Many farmers from Karnataka and Kerala visit his farm for piglets and to see his other units.

“I had spent about Rs. 90,000 as cultivation cost and was able to get a gross income of Rs. 3,60,000. Deducting the expense I have earned a net profit of Rs. 2,70,000 solely from musk melon,” he says.

I was able to harvest two fruits from a single vine he said. Each fruit weighed 1.25 – 1.5 kg. About 45 tonnes of fruit was harvested from a hectare and sold at Rs. 5 to 12 a kg,” said Mr. Boopathy.

Though it is mainly a summer crop it is now being cultivated throughout the year in Tamil Nadu.

The technology is being presently implemented in several major areas of Tamil Nadu.

At present precision technology is implemented in about 200 hectares in Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. More than 100 farmers have been benefited by this project.

Under this farming concept, the University gives technical advice to farmers on soil and water conditions, weather mapping, forewarning of pest attacks and also supplies water soluble fertilizers to be applied along with drip irrigation.

Mr. P.M. Chinnasamy, is one such beneficiary farmer in Dharmapuri, who has harvested about 135 tonnes of tomato from his one hectare field in nine months using this technology.

The yield is almost triple that of the farmers growing tomato under the conventional system of planting.

The first harvest was done on the 65th day after planting. The fruits were uniform in size and the skin colour was deep red.

The fruits were sold at the rate of Rs.10-20 per kg. Mr. Chinnasamy, has earned a net income of about Rs. 5 lakhs from tomato cultivation in nine months.

without using any  fertilizers. Mr. Reddy, an entrepreneurial farmer, got a world patent for his innovative technique of improving soil fertility without using fertilizer, took it as a challenge to prove that grass indeed is good for growing a grape garden. His technique is simple. He allows the grass to grow and at the drip points use some dung. The continuous drip of water combined with dung would allow earthworms to grow.

“The secret lies in the earthworms. These worms increase the soil fertility. When they die they would become compost and further improve the fertility. A healthy bed of grass would provide the natural habitat for earthworms to grow. I have proved that grass is indeed beneficial to a grape garden,” says Mr. Reddy.

“Farmers waste a lot of money on weedicides and thereby the pesticide residue in grapes would also grow causing harm to those who consume the fruit. Use natural methods to improve fertility and it would not only benefit the farmer but also the consumer,” he says.

Sadhu Deepthi is the name of an SHG with about 20 farm women (whose husbands are mostly farmers), as its members at Kakkayam village in Kozhikode district. Most of these women have little formal education and have land holdings from 3 cents to 4 acres.

The group was initially linked to a co-operative bank for availing loans to start various income generating activities and they are repaid out of the profit gained through several activities of the group.

Mrs. Daisy Francis, Joint Convener of the group, says: “Many of us had availed loans and have completely repaid the amount from the income that we generated out of our activities. As of now, each member has a share of Rs.5,000 to Rs. 9,000 and any member can avail a loan of up to Rs.30,000 at a very minimal interest and can repay in easy instalments. We never depend on the local money lenders,”

All the members cultivate vegetables organically to meet their needs, using vermicompost produced by them.

About ten women members started dairy units with two to seven cows. Each member gets a net profit of Rs.100- Rs.140 per day per cow through the sale of milk to the nearby milk co-operative society.

They also earn Rs.2000 to Rs. 14,000 through the sale of cow dung in a year. Some of them get an additional income of Rs.5,000-Rs 6,000 through the sale of calves.

Four members started a goatary unit, each with 3-7 Tellicherry breed goats, which brings an income from Rs.1,000 to Rs. 9,000 every year for each woman. In addition, the goat’s dung bring them an additional income of Rs 2,400 to Rs. 5,000 per year.

Mrs. Sainaba a member says, “the expenditure on each goat is around Rs.100 per year towards medicines and we do not spend any additional amount on feed, as sufficient green fodder is locally available.”

Every group member has started a poultry unit with an initial supply of 280 chicks and increased the number of birds to 2,000 in the same year. The women earn up to Rs.11,000 through the sale of eggs and meat in the local market.

Two women have started rearing ornamental fishes and have sold them for Rs.4,800 within a year.

The KVK has also been rewarded and rated as “excellent” in its activities for promotion of farmers’ groups in the State of Kerala by the NABARD.

Mr. Ravi approached several financial institutes for credit. As expected, the response was not encouraging. “I tried to mortgage my 0.4 ha land for raising money. But even that did not materialize. I approached the Spices Board of India and requested them to visit my workshop. The officials visited my place and certified the superiority of the machine and sanctioned a subsidy of Rs. 7,000 for my machine.”

“I then decided to start large-scale production and borrowed money from private moneylenders at high interest.

Later, scientists from the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), on hearing about my machine, requested me to demonstrate it in the University campus. After seeing its functions, they recommended my work to the Research station of KAU,” he explained.

Meanwhile Mr. Ravi also filed a patent for his invention. The Scientists of Peermadu Development Society (PDS), an NGO based at Idukki, documented the thresher in detail and recommended it to the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) for an award.

Mr. Ravi was finally conferred a national award in 2007. “NIF has also sanctioned a loan from its micro venture innovation fund for scaling up his invention. Compared to conventional threshers, Ravi’s invention has a number of advantages,

“The machine can be operated both automatically and manually. Two models are available. A big model with a capacity of 100 Kg can thresh 600 Kg of pepper in an hour and another small model with a capacity of 50 Kg can thresh 300 kg in an hour.

Manually, a labourer can separate only 150 kg of berries from the spikes in a day. The machines can be operated with a half HP and one HP motor. For an hour, it consumes about 6.5 units of electricity. The machine has facilities to grade the berries and also for making white pepper.

“More than 90 per cent of berries can be separated from the spikes in one run and no damage occurs to the skin of the pepper, whereas in a conventional machine 20 per cent of the skin is destroyed.

Peermadu Development Society (NGO) has already taken efforts to popularise the technology through its women self help groups.

Bachubhai is known as ‘Khopadee’ (a brainy) in this small township. To many he may appear a persistent explorer of crazy ideas, but his reputation as a serial innovator has spread far and wide. His workshop and many unfinished projects testify to that. There is no dividing line between his living rooms, workshop and the junkyard. And yet, there is a serene orderliness in this chaos.

He demonstrated his small wheel rotary tractor which was operated through a joystick. He took all the 360 degrees twists and turn, which were indeed fascinating to see. He had masked his gearbox with card boards. A simple diesel engine was fitted on a chassis made specially for the tractor using an old axle of used vehicle. The idea of making a joystick came from the rope tied to the bullock cart oxen. As you pull the rope on the left or right side, the animal turns and when you pull it hard, it stops.

This tractor worked exactly like that. It could take sharper turns than any other tractor available in the market. He could maneuver the tractor with great ease using the two joysticks. The tractor operates on a 10 HP stationary engine and consumes around five litres of diesel in around eight hours of work. The steering had been removed and two levers had been put in its place for navigating the vehicle. The levers were connected to the left and right front wheels respectively. The motor powers the rear wheels to which brakes have also been provided.

Kottrapatti village in Pudukottai district is like any other village in the country. But the incidence of widows in this village and surrounding areas is quite high.

Having lost their husbands, the ladies were finding it difficult to carry on with their daily work and also take care of their children.

Most of them were unable to obtain one square meal a day or send their children to school. They were neglected and in some cases sexually exploited by some male members in their village.

The women were also trained to produce their own organic inputs.

says Mrs. R. Maruthambal, a lady farmer:

“I lost my husband, a chronic alcoholic, seven years ago, and found it difficult to take care of my three children. With no money and work. I did not know what to do for food. I even contemplated suicide, but backed out at the last moment because of my children. But today my life is better, thanks to Kudumbam. My two children are going to school and I am able to lead a decent life,”

Another beneficiary, Mrs. M. Pakkiyam, says:

“After my husband died in an accident 5 years ago, my in-laws chased me out of the house labelling me a misfortune.

“My parents were also not keen to take me back as they had three other daughters who needed to get married. I turned into a vagabond overnight with no food and shelter. If not for these people I would have killed myself.” At present there are about 15women in this group and all of them are taking active interest in the work.

A portion of the harvested produce is kept for food and some is saved for sowing in the next season. The rest is sold and the income is equally divided among all the members.

In order to increase the economic development of the women, a revolving fund of Rs. 20,000 has been created.

Members can avail loans from this fund and repay it in easy monthly instalments. In fact, this fund has reduced their dependency on private moneylenders who charge a heavy interest which ranges from 40 to 60 per cent on the loans.

Kudumbam an NGO in Tiruchi has been responsible for all these developmental works.

He owns 1.5 acre cultivated land adjacent to river Ganga. Vegetable cultivation is main source of his livelihood, but the declining production and income was a cause of great worry for him.

On the advice of a close one,he  visited Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi, a premier institute of ICAR, to see and learn new production technologies for vegetables crops. He was impressed with the cultivation of cowpea. He started the cultivation of these cowpea varieties in  1.5 hectare.

He harvested tender green pods at right stage and sold in the market. He was able to catch early market from July first week and got higher market price @ Rs. 28/- per kg. Regular picking of green cowpea pod fetched him a return of 1.50 lakh by September.

Later, instead of selling green pod he left the crop in field for seeds. Thus he was able to get about 3.5 quintal of cowpea seeds by October end, which he later sold @ Rs. 90/- to150/- per kg and thus again he received a return of about Rs. 0.50 lakh. The total cost of cultivation, transportation and marketing of cowpea was calculated as Rs. 40000/-. Thus, within a period of one season, Keshav Prasad earned a net return of Rs. 1.60 lakh from an area of 1.5 hectare with a single crop of cowpea.

Today he is inspiring other farmers in his village to grow cowpea and other vegetable crops.

(Source: NAIP sub-project on “Mobilizing mass media support for sharing agro-information,”  DIPA and IIVR, Varanasi)