Cheaper technology for paddy cultivation

Ajay joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 9

In the recently held Startup India Punjab Yatra that concluded at ISB, Mohali, three teams of Lovely Professional University (LPU) excelled by winning positions. The teams — Dhaiya Agricultural Tools and Green on Green —  bagged the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively, for their innovations in the agriculture sector and Digantara bagged the 2nd position in the technology category.

With an intention to reduce a major chunk of the agricultural cost and the water consumption in the paddy crop cultivation, team Dhaiya Agricultural Tools, led by Mohit Dhaiya and Swarn Kaur presented a machine that would help farmers plant crop through machines, hence  reducing the manual cost of planting. 

Mohit said, their machines were based on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) parameters in ‘Rice cultivation’, which was still not applied in the country. The machine though the technology, would also provide better growing conditions for rice plants, particularly in the root zone, overcome the shortage of water in irrigated rice, sends fertilisers into the roots and controls methane gas produced during rice growth. 

This project is to see 40 per cent increase in the rice production and 30-35 per cent of water saving. Besides, compared to the expensive cost of Rs 2-3 lakhs of the existing machines, their machine would be available at Rs 70,000. 

Similarly, in the agriculture category, Mitul Bhaskar and his team proposed a start up called, ‘Green on Green’ that helps to establish an electrical vehicle transportation network for carrying small farm produces like vegetables to the marketing places. 

He said, through this, 80 per cent of their transportation expenses and allied works will certainly be reduced. Therefore it would be of great help for farmers, especially 90 per cent portion of small farmers.

In the technology category, four students of computer engineering branch— Anirudh, Rahul, Sikhinder and Sai Ganesh (Team Digantara) showcased their innovative idea, on tracking and analysing space debris in Low Earth Orbits (LEO), that is a Satellite project, through which they are all set to enter ‘Space’, with a mission to secure long-term spaceflight safety.

“Therefore they have proposed a solution that navigates the missing data of the unmapped debris using a time-of-flight LASER range finder based on the principle of reflection of an object in a vacuum,” said  Anirudh.

The main objective was to contribute to the global effort of cataloguing small-sized orbital debris, and to improve safety for future manned and unmanned space missions. Hence, team would send a constellations of nano-satellites in the lower earth orbit that enhances the coverage area to track debris in the Space.

Ashok Mittal, Chancellor, LPU, congratulated the students and their mentors for proving their entrepreneurial skills and potential in an excelling manner.