The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and a farmers’ NGO have jointly developed a cost-effective agricultural transportation system that addresses the now all too common labor shortages. The transportation system is a lightweight monorail type it can economically carry agricultural produce from the fields to collection points near the farm.
An IIT Madras team along with NGO ‘Pothu Vivasayeegal Sangam’ tested the prototype cableway system at a farm in Nanjai Thottakurichi village of Karur district in Tamil Nadu.
The transportation system developed by Shankar Krishnapillai of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, jointly with the farmers’ NGO, provides an economical and simple solution to this problem.
Krishnapillai said the proposed agricultural system is based on a simple design and components, and is easy to implement on local farms. The addition of rails and posts can easily scale up the transportation system to over a kilometer. Future plans include trolleys powered by battery power packs charged by solar energy.
Source: thehindubusinessline.com