1

Tools & Machines for Production, Processing and Value addition

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius –
and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.

- Ernst Friedrich (Fritz) Schumacher

Background

An overwhelmingly large proportion of our farmers are small and marginal farmers. When it comes to
their requirements for tools and machines for production, it has to be small and ideally hand-operated
or with animal draught power. Such machines should be drudgery-reducing especially for our women
farmers, but certainly not employment-displacing. For these farm households, post production
processing becomes an important constraint too in terms of appropriate technologies that would aid
both self-consumption as well as marketing after at least basic/primary processing.The need for such
machines to be at household or community level, run on energy sources that are within the reach of
marginalized farmers and being affordable by them are obvious factors to consider. The issue is not just
that of making the produce into a consumable product, but the fact that processing of the right kind at
the right time will also reduce wastages dramatically and opens up opportunities for farmers to retain
their produce in a processed form for the right time (right time for consumption or sale).

On the other hand, the agriculture research establishment and corporate players that are into creating
technologies for on-farm and post-production operations and processes,seem to be mainly catering to
big farmers and large entrepreneurs. These machines seem to be mostly based on fossil fuels and
electricity, with the setting up of such machines requiring credit and investments that are not available
to all farmers.

This is not just about scale of technology, when it comes to tools and machines. It is also about how
schemes and programmes are designed for supporting farmers to take up processing, for instance. The
Ministry of Food Processing has schemes for mega food parks, but not for cottage-level processing by
women farmers’ collectives, for instance.

The explorations on this front are not just about technologies/procedures/practices and machinery
required for production and processing, but institutional mechanisms that will assist farmers to
aggregate and have a stronger interface with markets.

Addressing these issues, therefore, will address the following for farmers:

 Drudgery reduction
 Timely activity/time saving
 Improving retention ability for future consumption or marketing through processing
 Enhancing nutrition security if local consumption is enabled due to small scale processing of millets
and reducing etc. – further, if the processing is of the right kind (no chemical additives or no excess
polishing of grains, or chemical laden oil extraction), that will also add to the nutritional/safety value
of the food available to our own producers.

The activities around processing, value addition and marketing can be visualized and implemented more
specifically for poor women and rural youth, so that they are meaningfully employed.

This is a Discussion Note prepared by Ananthoo for 4th Kisan Swaraj Sammelan,
Ahmedabad (Nov.2-4, 2018). For any further information, please contact
ananthoo@gmail.com.
 2

Framework and tenets:

Schumacher, in his outstanding work “Small is Beautiful” talks about human scale, decentralized and
appropriate technologies. In ASHA too, we would like to use some filters/scoring within which tools and
machines can be assessed for their appropriateness, whether at production end or post-harvest end. It
is well appreciated that the scale for processing and value addition can be different, if the farmers
collectivise themselves into Farmer Producer Organisations and aggregate their produce to create
higher volumes.

Processing machines as well as machines during production should be assessed against the following:

 Scale (in volumes/quantity) – whether it is optimal or not

 Energy use and what kind of energy (renewable, electricity, diesel etc.)
 Affordability per machine/tool - does the investment also get support in any form from any
government programme/scheme
 Repair & maintenance (both these should be rural-India specific – for instance, machines with
electronic chips etc.)
 Longevity (as against obsolescence)
 Eco-Friendly technology of being able to use by-products usefully, for example
 Drudgery reduction, especially for women but not labour-displacing
 Recovery percentage of produce

Processing process/materials/output:

 Non-chemical
 Nutritive value kept high
 Shelf life improvement
 Drawing on traditional knowledge/food systems but with the ability to break gender stereotypes

POSSIBILITIES:

Amongst the associates of ASHA, as well as in other networks, valuable and rich experience exists with
regard to innovations on various tools and machines. There are several instances where traditional tools
and equipment are still relevant and useful. There is also experience with farmers or producer
collectives, or SHGs taking up processing and value addition to improve their incomes. Some of the
examples are:

 Cotton value chain, from seed to garment – Tula India, Khamir, Weaver Bird – here, livelihood
opportunities are sought to be improved at all stages of the value chain by keeping all processes
manual, with a focus on dignified rural employment generation
 Millet processing and value addition – DharaniFam Coop, Earth 360, Tribal Health Initiative
 Oils – Raja Shankar’s enterprise in Tamil Nadu has his own design of 3HP motor single phase rotary
machine to cold press oil.
 Pickles – KVM’s Women Action for Ecology
 Dals – Chetna Organic, YUVA Rural
 Jaggery – Belgaum Organic Food Club, Suresh Desai, Abhay Mutalik Desai
 Ambadi or Gongura – Manohar bhau Parchure and Arun Dike
 Jaggery, chutney powders, pickles, panchagavya, multi grain atta – Beejom of UP
This is a Discussion Note prepared by Ananthoo for 4th Kisan Swaraj Sammelan,
Ahmedabad (Nov.2-4, 2018). For any further information, please contact
ananthoo@gmail.com.
 3

 Milk – Akshayakalpa
 Sweets and snacks – Buffalo Back and its women’s SHG; Navadarshanam and its women’s SHG,
Selvam Ramaswamy and Poonkuzhi’s brand uyir poo that makes lots of value additions/ sweets/
laddus from what they grow.

A number of organic retailers take up simple processing of the raw produce that they receive. In South
India, they create millet flours, mixed grain attas, sambar/rasam/idli/masala powders, millet batter for
idli and dosa, some milk-based processing like organic ghee and cheese, sweets and snacks etc..There
are numerous examples of farmers taking up simple processing themselves and selling such processed
products – amla powder, dried ginger, ginger powder, aamchur etc. In the case of one organic farmers’
group in Wardha that began calling itself as “vishmukt dukaan”, they also diversified into a restaurant
business. The organic women farmers of Deccan Development Society also run a Millets Café in
Telangana. Customised direct marketing can also be seen as value addition, in a manner of speaking.
Similarly, a specialized role in organic supply chains in the form of distribution, as is taken up by Sahaja
Organics.

Institutional Mechanisms

Some of the enterprises listed above are non-profit social enterprises, while yet others are farmers’
collectives, or individual farmers. While some have obtained their machines and other infrastructure
from government support, some others got it through crowd-funding/friendly investors, while some are
from NGO projects. The farmer FPOs also have farmers’ own equity share capital. In terms of legal
shape, some are farmer cooperatives, some are farmer producer companies, some are Sec.25C entities
while yet others are sole proprietorship or partnership entities.

When it comes to maintenance of tools and machines, at a community level for joint use, tool and
machine banks or libraries are being run by SEWA cooperatives as well as associates of WGWLO
network, with a special focus on reducing women’s drudgery and getting women-friendly farm
equipment. This is being done by other SHGs too, like ones associated with Chetna Organic.

Some Innovative Machines &Tools

There is a big need for hand implements and other small mechanical (manual or power) tools that can
be used in farms at various stages till after harvest. Here again there has not been much done either in
research or access and hence ASHA will start to collate available information and create a list with
specifications and details of application/function. The invaluable work of JC Kumarappa is available to all
of us. Similarly, work of Honeybee Network in documenting rural innovations is worth noting here, and
several solutions related to machines and tools would be documented already.

WHAT ARE ASHA’s PROPOSALS ON THIS FRONT?

 Collate all available appropriate machines/tools and their specifications including manufacturer
details – create a common pool resource for everyone to use – the thrust here will be on
farmers’ innovation and invention (Honeybee Network has done decades of work already and
we can dip into it)
 More focus on post-harvest processes like threshing, grading, winnowing, sorting etc
 Compiling simple and healthy value additions that will help local consumption and local markets
 Create a team to collect all ideas and set up a “makers’ space” with tool and machine
manufacturers, and create more access to useful machines, after prioritizing some immediate
needs of farmers and farmer collectives.
This is a Discussion Note prepared by Ananthoo for 4th Kisan Swaraj Sammelan,
Ahmedabad (Nov.2-4, 2018). For any further information, please contact
ananthoo@gmail.com.