DNA
DEWAS, India — A dozen villages in Dewas district don’t wait for fire tenders from nearby towns to extinguish not-so-infrequent fires at their standing crops of soyabean and wheat any longer.
They have a contraption ready which doubles as fire extinguisher and pesticide sprayer. This unique device has been assembled by Rajendra Upadhyay, 30, of Songaon village. The tenth pass youth assembled the contraption which quickly and efficiently douses field fires.
“We had been losing our crop as the fire tenders from Khategaon, around 30 km from our village, would take a lot of time to reach the farms,” Upadhyay told DNA, explaining how the idea of devising a fire extinguisher germinated in his mind.
After losing a good harvest in April 2011 to devastating fire, the young farmer used a generator to turn into a compressor, attached it to a tractor and fixed long rubber pipes to act as hoses. The machine is converted into a pesticide sprayer too. He has sold dozens of his invention to farmers who need them.
The fire tenders have saved crop fires in several villages. Now he is hailed as a hero and his machine has become quite popular across villages.
“I invested `50,000 in the assembled fire tender. Now people call me to buy it,” said Upadhyay.
Ramkishan Sharma, a customer of Upadhyay, claimed that it takes four days and equal number of labourers to spray pesticides in 10- acre field. “The cost of labour is high in the area,” he said, adding the machine sprays the field in two hours. The farmer-turned entrepreneur claims if government supports him, he has ideas for more local inventions that can ease work of farmers.
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