2 days ago
Belagavi techie-turned-farmer wins innovation award from TAFE
Avinash Desai, a techie- turned farmer from Belagavi, has won the first prize for his idea for a mobile slurry de-watering machine powered by a Massey Ferguson tractor. He was gifted a brand-new MF 254 DYNASMART 2WD tractor, worth approximately ₹8.2 lakh.
Mr. Desai developed an innovative idea for a mobile slurry de-watering machine powered by the Massey Ferguson DYNATRACK 241.
The second prize went to Prateek Agarwal from Hojai in Assam for his concept of a solar-powered sustainable energy hub, earning him an 8 gram gold coin.
The third prize was awarded to Amrit Jot Singh from Patiala in Punjab (8 gram gold coin) for his idea of a water purifying unit powered by the MF DYNATRACK 241.
The awards were part of the second edition of the competition. The DYNASTAR-2 competition for innovative ideas is organised by TAFE (Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited), the manufacturers of Massey Ferguson tractors.
This pioneering initiative by TAFE aims to discover and reward original, scalable, and socially impactful ideas powered by the versatile Massey Ferguson DYNATRACK 241 tractor.
The second season saw over 16,000 entries from across 26 States and 5 Union Territories. Experts scanned through the proposed ideas to prepare a shortlist of 12 farmers, rural entrepreneurs, students and innovators. The shortlist comprised competitors from seven States.
The jury included members from sales and marketing, operations, and product management.
The finalists were evaluated on innovation, feasibility, scalability, income generation potential, and societal impact.
The Jury's Choice Award was presented to Jayakumar Karuppusamy, a retired IAS officer from Assam who developed a multi-purpose farm machine. He won a 50 gram silver coin.
In the Institutional Category, the team from Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Kumulur, got the first prize for their idea of an 8-row tractor-mounted transplanter.
The second prize went to Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Erode, for developing an automated multi-vegetable transplanter, both using a MF tractor.
Students were offered internship opportunities at TAFE.
