FARMER'S NOTEBOOK
More spice at lower cost with new mechanical pepper device
M.J. PRABU
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The machine has facilities to grade the berries and make white pepper
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— Photo Special arrangement
Perseverance: Mr. P.K Ravi of Kerala in his workshop looking at his innovation.
Non-availability of enough manual labour becomes a major deterrent in the successful running of any enterprise, especially agriculture.
Though several farming devices have been developed, many of them are not commonly used, because they are either priced high or credit facility is not easily available to purchase them.
If devices even from recognised institutes face such hassles, what happens to a good invention developed by a lay person? The person naturally gets frustrated and may drop the idea of pursuing the project. Ultimately, the farming community could lose a good and helpful device.
Quite popular
Mr. P.K. Ravi, a mechanic by profession, stands out as one such example. He has developed a mechanical pepper thresher which is popular among pepper growers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Priced at Rs. 30,000, the machine has become an instant hit, mainly because ofits affordable price and efficiency.
Why did he focus on developing a machine for pepper threshing when he could have tried his hand at other inventions?
According to Mr. Ravi, there are a number of pepper farms in his region, with practically no people to thresh the pepper manually during the harvest season.
As the job of a mechanic does not keep him busy throughout the year, it gave him ample time and scope to think and design a machine that would be helpful to the farmers, and at the same time bring him some revenue and recognition.
So he decided to design a low-priced effective mechanical thresher. He consulted several experts and farmers in this field. But most of them discouraged him. But with determination he went ahead with the idea of developing the machine.
Not encouraging
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, said Mr. T.J James, Visiting Fellow, NIF.
Two models
“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,” said Mr. James.
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.
Better efficiency
“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,” said Mr. James.
Peermadu Development Society (NGO) has already taken efforts to popularise the technology through its women self help groups.
Readers can contact Mr. P.K Ravi, Palathumthalakkal, Upputhodu, 685 602, Idukki , Kerala, Mobile: 9495127730 and Mr. T.J James at email: james@nifindia.org and jamestherattil@yahoo.co.in, mobile: 994751001, phone: 0487-2384992.
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