The Indian Innovator who is on and on

Meet Annasaheb Bhavu Udgavi: The 82-Year Old Who Invented A Water-Powered Clock, A Foldable Charkha And A Farm Equipment.

Annasaheb as an ideator and innovator started when he was in 20s and has just kept going since.

The contribution made by him is immense and in fields as diverse as agriculture and renewable energy. Some of his innovation Milestones are:

Early 60's:

In 1960, he developed a clock which ran on drops of water. The second’s hand of the clock moved forward when a drop of water fell on it from a dispenser, which had been timed properly. In 1962, he made a horizontal charkha that was foldable and could fit into a suitcase. He displayed this at Sabarmati Ashram, which improvised on his design, and increased the number of ‘belanis’ from three to eight in the conventional one, in order to increase the output.

Mid 70's:

In the mid 1970’s, to save his betel vine orchard from acute water scarcity, Annasaheb fitted PVC pipes used in electrical fittings with perforations made on them using nails. By irrigating each day for one hour, he ran the crops for seven years. This was Annasaheb’s very own drip irrigation, when the term ‘drip irrigation’ was unheard of in this part of the World.

The 80's:

To protect his sugarcane crop from aphids and white flies, he created the rotor sprinkler system called ChandraPrabha that could cover a radius of 140 feet. Besides whisking the pests away, the ChandraPrabha rain gun can irrigate 1 acre in 1.5 hours.

The innovative Raingun irrigates more than twice as much area using the same amount of water. Along with irrigation, the sprinkler can be used for application of fertilizers and plant protection chemicals simply by mixing them in the water tank. This can save huge labour costs.

The 90's & Beyond:

Fed up from paucity of labour and exorbitant diesel costs to run the tractor for a single operation while cultivation sugarcane, Annasaheb developed an equipment that could perform three simultaneous operations for producing better quality mulch. The equipment can be attached to a 30-40 hp tractor and can simultaneously perform farm operations like bund forming, seed sowing, manure application and harvesting. He has been using the equipment for many years, and also holds a patent for it.
Age hasn’t slowed him down a bit, but made him more inquisitive and daring. India can surely do with more Annasahebs!!