Presentation at the Workshop on Crop Production Equipment for the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Presenter: A Ravindra, WASSAN, India Title: Innovations In Implements: Processes Followed by WASSAN Date: November 3, 2014 Venue: ACISAI, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

1. Innovations In Implements :
Processes
Processes Followed by WASSAN
http://www.wassan.org/sri_implements
Ravindra A
03-11-2014, AIT, Bangkok

3. Several farmers’
& others’
innovations
around;

4. • Some Principles :
– Posture
– Evaluating component
parts
– Weight
– Women be able to do
– Able to manufacture it
locally
– soils (clay soils & light soils)
– Cost
Stage 1 : Innovators’ workshop
• Scouted for farmers who
innovated on weeders and
markers
• Organised a workshop with –
farmers with implements,
Agriculture University (engineers
& agronomists), promoters.
• A dialogue on :
• What are we looking for?
• How do we test?
• An evaluation of all weeders –
component wise (handle, the
weeding drum, float etc.)

5. An SRI-Farmer who is also a mechanical engineer – Mr. Kishan Rao put
together the best of the components together – named the weeder after
his Village Name.

7. Stage 2 : Developing an Improvised version
• Identified a local fabricator in Hyderabad
• Worked with a local fabricator
• Arrived at a prototype and tested..& refined
• Placed bulk order.
• Got this fabricator set .. some initial quality
issues .. corrected.

8. Fabricator
WASSAN’s
promotional
programs
Farmers
Promoters
Govt Programs
• Generating
demand
• Quality
control
• Help in price
negotiation
Other States/
Countries
• Designs are in the manual
• & in the web

9. This fabricator (Paul) has prepared and
supplied more than 10000 weeders.
We connect, farmers / promoters to
this person.
Prototypes were taken to several
places along with SRI promotion
anchored by WASSAN :
- Uttarakhand
- Odisha
- Jharkhand
- Bihar
- Afghanisthan
- Other states..

10. Catering to Scaling up with Government:
Step 1: Worked with the government department on the models
- Formed a State level Consortium (WASSAN as secretariat –
with Agrl University, DRR, others)
- Convinced the Agrl Department to waive the requirement of
Agrl University formally recommending the weeders
- The Consortium – looked at and approved the two weeders
(Mandava & the Crops’ modified) along with the Cono-
weeder of University
- Unit costs are arrived at
- Got the fabricator (informal industry) as supplier
- Some quality control & payment mechanisms established.
Step 1a : Trained labor/ wage workers on using markers and weeders
along with the farmers.

11. Catering to Scaling up
with Government:
Step 2: Local fabricators’ training
- Worked in collaboration with the Agrl University.
- Asked all the promoters to identify a local fabricator
(about 10 fabricators were identified).
- A three day training organised for them
- Introduction to SRI and the requirements of weeding etc.
- The will all make two types of weeders during the work-
shop.
- The 1st fabricator was the trainer.
- The entire process was filmed.. And the fabricators have
taken the drawings and film along with them.
- 1st round orders were placed with them to supply
weeders and markers
- Established fabricators them locally.

12. Catering to Scaling up
with Government:
Step 3: Custom hiring centers
- It’s a waste of capital for small farmers to buy
weeders and markers.
- If these are available for rent, then the need
(headache of) for maintaining the implements /
investments are not required.
- Farmers / labor can hire many weeders at one
time so that more labor can work at a given point
in time.

13. Catering to Scaling up
with Government:
Step 4: Labour contract groups
- Tried to evolve labor contract systems i.e. getting per acre weeding &
transplanting contract in place of daily wage payment.
- Lots of negotiation between farmers / labor groups / facilitating team on ..
- Whether the farmer should pay the entire amount that s/he was paying in conventional system.
- Also attempted a contract labor system – not yet fine-tuned. (i.e. if for a fixed
amount of Rs., the farmer contracts with the SHG Federation; the federation
will take care of transplanting and weeding against a fixed amount of
contract-payment (farmer need to go searching for SRI-skilled labor)
- Labor groups trainings were organised, even supported by the government.