A group of engineering students from the Manalur constituency in Thrissur district of Kerala is setting a model by doing their bit to the society.
Manalur is predominantly a farming area in Thrissur district, with its vast stretches of kole fields. Pest attack is one of the burning issues faced by kole farmers.
Students of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering branch at Vidya Engineering College, Kechery, Thrissur, have developed a solar machine – Solar farming Vikas – that destroys crop pests and converts them into organic manure.
The eco-friendly machine has been developed by Ushas Andrews from Kanjani, Kevin George from Palazhi, Swathi K. Sunil from Kandassamkadavu and Jincy Jose from Anthikad — all under the Manalur constituency — as part of their BTech final-year project.
The fully solar-powered machine functions day and night. It runs at night with the solar battery charged during the day. As dim light is used at night, it uses less power.
“Hormones are used to attract insects to the machine. It works with ultrasonic technology and uses yellow and blue lights at night to attract insects. Pests are destroyed using high voltage. Ordinary people can use it easily because of the low current flow,” say the students.
Safety feature
The machine also has the facility to combine these dying pests with organic matter to convert it into organic manure. It helps to avoid other animals that enter the farm to consume the pests. The machine is also equipped with a safety feature during rainy seasons.
The machine has compartments for storing belongings of farm workers. It has a mobile phone charging point too.
Professors Vishnu Rach, Sankaran Namboothiri and Ashwin T. Surendran coordinated the project led by Mary Varghese, Head of the Electrical Engineering department at the college.
The project was selected as the best project in the competition held by the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC) club of the college. The students are now working with the Department of Agriculture to bring the machine to the market.
