A motorcycle modified into a cost effective plowing machine
Necessity is the mother of invention and it’s no different in the case of Mansukhbhai Jagani, a farmer who hails from Mota Devaliya village in Amreli district of Gujarat. The eldest among four brothers, Jagani enjoyed the moments in classrooms only
up to the primary level. Drought and financial instability made living impossible for his family and finally he had to join his father in farming to run home.
In three decades since, Jagani now holds a patent for his innovative multi-purpose machine that helps farmers to carry out various operations such as furrow opening, sowing, inter-culturing, and spraying. He is now an inspiration for villagers who fight for a living in bad times.
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| Innovative Modification - The Royal Enfield Bullet with attachments can be used for filling, weeding and sowing. |
Twenty-five years ago Jagani opened a small workshop in his village, where he still provides services to villagers for repairing diesel engines and farm implements. He also used to manufacture various farm implements such as harrow, plow, seed drill, and grills for doors and windows. Often he used to feel perturbed by the problem farmers faced in the spraying of agrochemicals in the fields. Finally, he decided to develop a sprayer which is efficient and affordable. His attempt and effort soon gave birth to Santi, a diesel Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle complete with attachments for tilling, weeding, and sowing small farm holdings. Jagani’s machine proves to be cost effective and fuel efficient. It can plow an acre of land in 30 minutes, consuming just two liters of fuel. Santi can weed 10 hectares of land in a day at the cost of Rs 15 per hectare.
To accomplish such tasks, Jagani has created an attachment that can be hooked to any 325cc motorcycle by replacing the rear wheel with an assembly unit, also designed and developed by him. He designed the chassis of the machine in ‘U’ shape to avoid welding small C channels to make the frame. He then attached the plow to the chassis so that only one axis takes the load. A triangular frame attached with the hook was developed to carry the plow. He also fitted a platform on the plow providing enough space for the user to stand on it. For lifting the plow, he has provided a pulley near the driver seat, so that by rotating the pulley, the user can raise or lower the plow easily.
Jagani’s machine is smaller than the existing tillers and tractors, but it is stronger than the bullocks/draft animals. According to Jagani, as his system can be dismantled easily, the user can use the motorcycle for regular purposes once the cultivation use is over. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to convert a motorcycle into a poly cultivator. Jagani has priced the system at Rs 40,000, without the motorcycle.
"Apart from these, this device has the potential to improve productivity and reduce operating costs for farmers who are currently using bullocks but cannot afford the cost of tractors or power tillers," explains Jagani. With the help of National Innovation Foundation (NIF), Ahmedabad, Jagani has attained a patent in India and in the US for his innovation.
The NIF also promoted him to display Santi in South Africa in an exhibition organized by the Department of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME) of the Northern Provinces jointly with the Commonwealth Science Council (CSC), London. With his motorbike-polycultivator, considered a product with global applications, Jagani proves that just highly-qualified people are not the face of emerging India.
This article is sourced from: Technology Review India.
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