In a bid to help small farmers earn more, Hydrogreens Agri Solutions is creating sustainable solutions for better livestock fodder production. Vasanth Madhav Kamath, winner of the Union government’s Prajjwala Challenge, talks about his venture and journey.
One of the biggest challenges that small and marginal farmers in India face is getting enough fodder of good quality for their livestock. That’s because production, storage and distribution of fodder remain ridden with issues in the country. Enter Vasanth Madhav Kamath, founder and CEO of Hydrogreens Agri Solutions, a Bengaluru-based company providing state-of-the-art fodder systems and livestock feed solutions.
“Shortage of fodder in India affects 70 million farmers,” Kamath, 40, who is one of the five winners of the Union government’s Prajjwala Challenge, told Village Square. “There is an unintended injustice to growers and consumers. Because of the rise in input costs, the cost of milk has also increased.”
Hydrogreens Agri Solutions has successfully tested a product called Fodder Station 2.0. This invention enables the production of about 270 tonnes of fodder per month, while conserving energy, using less water and reducing the effort required to harvest the fodder. The annual turnover of the company, which Kamath founded with his own funds, is currently about Rs 1 crore.
Kamath, who is a civil engineer by training, was dabbling in the R&D of a company growing cotton vertically when he came upon the idea of creating solutions for the country’s fodder growth and management crisis.
“The innovation here is the solar roof, below which we grow hydroponic fodder. This fodder is 95 percent space and energy-efficient. When the fodder is fed to cattle, we’ve witnessed a two-litre increase in milk yield with a reduction in input costs,” he explained.
The fodder station is co-located to a chilling centre. Typically one chilling centre is attached to 10 milk-collection centres and about 40 farmers supply milk to each milk-collection centre.
The solar power generated at the station costs about Rs 4 a unit, which is half the rate at which the grid provides it. Excess power can be used for the attached chilling centre, thereby neutralising some of the carbon electricity that the chilling centre is using.
At the moment Hydrogreens Agri Solutions is running the programme in Karnataka, with franchisees running operations in Rajasthan and Meghalaya.
“In the future, there is potential for thousands of such fodder stations to be set up pan India,” said Kamath.
A second solution, a modified atmospheric storage barrel called Kanaj, is also being tested by the company.
“We can store ground-grown fodder in these barrels without fungus, mould or aflatoxin, which is a carcinogen,” said Kamath, about the likely breakthrough.
This is the third write-up in a series of articles featuring the winners of the Prajjwala Challenge, an initiative launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to look for ideas and solutions around innovative technologies, inclusive growth and enhanced women entrepreneurship, among others. It has been crafted by MoRD, with Transform Rural India (TRI) as a programme partner. The story is being published to highlight use of science and technology-based social impact innovation and solutions in India under Manthan, an initiative led by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India.
The lead image at the top shows the Fodder Station 2.0 system, which can yield about 270 tonnes of fodder per month. (Photo courtesy Fairpicture)
Smriti Mukerji is a journalist turned freelance writer based out of New Delhi.
