Dr Reddy, who supervised the project, said the student’s approach combined core engineering skills with real-world relevance
Hyderabad: A personal farming challenge gave rise to an innovation that could benefit small-scale farmers. Ranadheer, a second-year MTech Mechanical Engineering student at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H), has built a solar-powered seed sowing machine inspired by labour shortages on his father’s maize farm in Jagtial district.
His father, Gangadhar, cultivates maize in Tulsinagar village, where timely sowing has become increasingly difficult due to a lack of available workers. The recurring delays were affecting both productivity and family income. “My father kept struggling with labour availability every season. I wanted to do something practical to help,” Ranadheer said.
Under the guidance of Dr Chennakesava Reddy, Director of JNTU-H’s R&D department, Ranadheer designed a compact machine that uses solar energy to automatically sow seeds at regular intervals, optimising spacing and reducing manual effort. The device is currently undergoing trials.
Unlike conventional sowing methods that require fuel-powered machinery or manual labour, this solar-powered unit aims to offer a cleaner, cost-effective alternative, particularly for farmers in regions with unreliable electricity supply.
Dr Reddy, who supervised the project, said the student’s approach combined core engineering skills with real-world relevance. “Ranadheer’s work is a reminder that research rooted in local problems can lead to practical solutions,” he said.
While the machine is still in its prototype stage, if successful, it could offer timely help to small and medium-scale farmers grappling with sowing-intensive crops like maize, where delays can make or break a season’s yield.
