The Journey:
It was a long process which had a total of four phases over a duration of 4 months. The team had applied to the website of OIST(Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) that required all the information about the start-up.
OIST shortlisted the start-up from n number of applications which came across from various parts of the world. They stated that a total of 50,000 applications were received. Top 100 ideas were shortlisted for the interview with OIST professionals and Japanese Government.
They took an interview of the whole startup team which comprised of four members from Japan.A final interview was conducted in last, impressed by the start-up idea the team received a confirmation email which stated that the idea was selected for the 1-year Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program in Japan.
The Japanese Government is going to sponsor all activities including Visa, travel, accommodation, and R&D works on the start-up. They funded the team with a huge amount of 10M Japanese Yen to start a business in Japan. Two members from the team Mr. Narayan Lal Gurjar and Mr. Puran Singh Rajput are selected to visit Japan for a 1-year program.
About the Game changing Start-up:
Keeping in mind that India is an agricultural dependent economy and a big part of the country’s economy depends on agriculture. The production in agriculture is directly proportional to water availability. In India, 266 districts from 11 states are declared as drought affected. The average food grain production between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 was 255.59 million tons, while in 2015-2016, it was estimated to be at 253.16 million tons. More than 70% of the districts are drought affected in 8 states. The data clearly shows that scarcity and unavailability of water cause too many losses.
So the team tried to create something helpful to retain water for a longer duration of time, and in the process, the team was successful to create a polymer named “Eco-Friendly Water Retention Natural Polymer”. Keeping in mind all the conditions of the country and its farmers the team designed the product at low cost with much more efficiency.
Brief about the Polymer:
Eco-Friendly Water Retention Natural Polymer works on the properties of SAP. As the team knew SAP had properties to absorb a large quantity of water. The team used properties of SAP and designed natural polymer, which has more capacity to store water for longer time.
On testing of the product, the team found that it may retain water for 4 to 6 weeks that means crops irrigated at intervals of 2 to 4 days can now be irrigated up to 7 to 8 days with less water consumption. Finally, farmers can get more crop production in low water consumption.
The natural polymer was produced by using natural waste material like orange peels, banana peels and peepal barks with gel. All the ingredient used are biodegradable, the designed product is also biodegradable and completely pollution free. It can be easily mixed with soil and does not create any problem for the future. Also, the team has not used any type of chemicals, so it is harmless to crops, soil, and farmers as well.
About the team:
We all know that the source of income in our villages is mainly agriculture. The team witnessed a big draught in a nearby village which caused complete damage to the crops. The situation was very bad and it became worst when the villagers started to fight for the water. At that time few relatives came to the team and said that one thing that you need to and should do is to find a solution to this problem.
The idea popped up for the first time when they saw how the orange peels were able to store water for a long time. With some google search in the start and shared the idea with one of the old friends. They both researched and found that orange peels have special property to store water for a longer time. The team started to work on this idea.
Being the students of Agriculture Engineering at the College of Technology & Engineering, Udaipur they got the best environment to develop this idea. They shared the idea with the professors and got appreciated by the Dean of College as well. This and having support from a good team with dedicated people inspired them to work with more power.
The team started to work more deeply as well as started researching the idea. After 6 months of research, the team created a process to develop EF Polymer. After college hours, the team used to go to the juice shops and collects fruit peels. Everyone there was of helping nature.
Apart from this idea was presented in front of the state and central government. They were appreciated by Rajasthan’s C.M. Ms.Vasundhara Raje Sindhiya in Rajasthan Education Fair. Recently they were also awarded GYTI award from Honorable President of India Mr. Ramnath Kovind Ji.
Help from UdaipurBlog:
Narayan Lal Gurjar says:
“Udaipur Blog interviewed the team last year and motivated to get the idea out in public. Also, the interview helped the project to receive more orders. This motivated us to do the work with more dedication.”