Carboon free Chikki Making business………………….

Chikki making (Indian dry nut Candy) is very profitable and well set cottage scale business in rural and urban areas. With SHG revolution many SHG’s groups and individual entrepreneurs are engaged in Chikki making. In this business fuel cost is supposed to be major input cost , which involves in roasting nuts and making sugar/jaggery syrup. If this cost is reduced by using solar cooking devices(Solar scheffler / PRINCE – 40 ), business profit can be significantly increased and new carbon free product can be marketed with extra cost (details are given in attached link below). In our trial we also found that taste (quality) of final product is also far better than fire wood / LPG stove made chikki, mainly because of even roasting of nuts.

In short these devices can be used for commercial Chikki making business. Detailed trial report is given below-              carbon-free-chikki1.

Aquaponics Experiment so far …………..

As earlier posted, We have started working on Aquaponics for testing its possibilities in Indian conditions. Initial small project is going on with NFT model (Which can be called as hobby scaled setup) with Indian Carp fish Species (Catla). Presently we are facing lot of problems in fish survival and plants growth.

With this initial experiment, we have identified few area need more focus as –

• Fish survival – We are facing problem of fish survival in tank, which is around 500 lit and of 1 ft depth. Water is of 8.5   PH and 625 Hardness. We were feeding them with ground nut oil cake of around 10 to 20 gm / day. Following are the initial observations for fish mortality as – Low oxygen level in water , improper fish feeding , less water depth, Fluctuating water temp ( because of on setting winter) , high ammonia content. Presently we don’t have any water testing kit for monitoring above parameters, so exact figures are not available.
• Plant growth – Plant growth when compared with control treatment (plants planted in normal soil conditions), no significant growth is observed for Aquaponics plants. This is mainly because on improper growth of fish (as per references from internet documents).
• Improper bio filters – This is been observed that water color was turning blackish and giving off smell.  It’s may be because of less root and growth media surface area for bacterial growth.

Now in new setup on the basic of above observations are designed for cultivating Lettuce crop (as its best adapted to Hydroponics system) and with same fish species. Precautions will be taken for controlling above parameters and new water testing kit will be purchased for testing NH4, NO3 and Dissolved Oxygen.

Whoever trial on decorative fish (in my home) is working fine. Initial when root surface area was less water smelling but now when plants are growing fast and developing more roots, smell is decreasing and water quality is also  improving (  by visual observations observation ) . Growth of the plants are still not as good as open soil planted plants , but vigor , health , shine on leaf is good. I read on net that it takes at least 5-6 moths to starts nitrogen cycle properly with functional bacterial colonies.   

 

Finishing School Inaguration ceremony ……………..

On 30^th of November finishing school building inaugurated in presence of Sir Kevin Smith (Chief Executive – GKN plc), Mr Douglas McIldowie ( Group HR Director, GKN plc), Mr. Hemant Nighojkar (Managing Director India),Mr.Diliprao ji Valsi-patil (Speaker Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly), Mr.Ashokrao ji Powar (MLA, Shirur-Haveli) and other delegates from political and social background.

A programme started with small film (Photo side show) on finishing construction followed by presentation by Shri.Ashok Kalbag on Vigyan ashram and its working philosophy. After that Sir.Klevin smith along with other delegated from GKN took a round of Vigyan ashram and interacted with DBRT students on their training and different project. Then in main opening ceremony hall we had certification distribution and students experience sharing function, in which DBRT students who have contributed in construction of Finishing school building received special contribution certificate from Sir.Klevin Smith.

On arrival of Shri.Dilip Valse Patil and Shri.Ashokrao Powar, Finishing school building was inaugurated by offering coconut, at the same time new Fab-lab section was also inaugurated. After that we had a main function in which Shri.Ashok kalbag gave speech on Finishing school Project and VA future plans. After  that Shri.Dilip Valse Patil inaugurated our new CD’s of Workshop Technician and Electrification basic and advance courses.

While giving inaugural speech Sir.klevin smith took overall review of GKN in context with Indian development and award own by VA. Programme ended with the speech of Shri.Dilip Valse Patil in which, he thanked GNK for supporting VA and explained importance of Practical Learning as Need of Developing India.

Inaguration of Modern Food Processing facilities at Vigyan ashram , Pabal…….

On 3^rd of November, Community food processing and testing unit was inaugurated officially in special presence Mr.Pramod Chaudary (Chairman Praj Industries Pvt.Ltd ). We had small function of opening ceremony in which both processing and testing unit was inaugurated by chief guest. While giving his speech Mr.Pramod Chaudary explained views of Praj Industries and Praj Foundation in Rural development and express their full support to Vigyan ashram. DBRT past student Mr.Bansilal Mandi , SHG member Sou.Sunita Jadhav and progressive farmer Mr.Ramkrushna Agarkar also express their views about new modern facilities available in community food processing unit. Before that a short film on this project was shown to all delegates and round of Vigyan ashram campus was taken to interact with DBRT students.

New vermicomposting bed…………

New Vermi-composting bed-

New Vermi-composting bed made up of polyethylene worth Rs.1100.00, is donated by Mr.Sachine Desai (Samantak, Dhamapur). This bed is low cost , easy to carry and having special arrengment for Vermi-wash harvesting. Many farmers in Pabal area wanted to know cost and other benefits of this bed so we installed it in VA campus with proper compost layering’s with help of Dhamapur DBRT students as a part of Vermi-composting practical exam of DBRT.

One day brain storming session on Work Centric Education …………..

One 13^th of November, one day brain storming session was organized on Work Centric Education by VA & Avkash Nirmity, Pune. Role of Education, Present missing links in Educational system, Future Educational Policies, Role of VA and society were the few topics discussed in detailed. Documentaries of Vigyan ashram, Srujan Vidyalaya- Kolhapur and interview of Shri.Anil Sadgopal were also seen and discussed on the \same day. Following members were present for this session as-

1  All staff members from VA.

2 Shri.Samir Shipurkar.

3  Shri.Amitraj Deshmukh.

4 Sou.Swapnali Patil.

5 Sou.Chaya Goltgaonkar.

6 Mis.Shilpa Ballal.

7  Sou.Radhika Murty.

8  Shri.Aditya Atle.

9  Miss.Joyti Kulkarni.

Pabal Dome Construction training at Architectural college INDORE …………….

Zonal National Architectural Students Association (NASA) convention 2011, was conducted at Indore Architecture college. It was national conference of all India architectural college held this year at Indore. Dome construction was one of theme for this 2 days conference. We got request from organizing commitee in August 2011.

Pabal dome construction training was given for 2 days with 8 M dome construction on site. Dr.Ashok Mathur , Mr.Anand Gosavi , Mr.Kasim Inamdar were took part as resource persons for training.  8 M dome was erected on site and then few section were plastered. 

Aquaponics experimnet …………………

Aquaponics is simple symbiosis of plants and fish i.e its combination of Hydroponics and Aquaculture system. In developed countries like that of UK, Australia , USA lot of work has already done and many farmers using this system on commercial scale. The main advantage of aquponics is water & nutrient recycling and completely organic food production. Even though its initial cost is little high and very few references are available on its feasibility on Indian conditions, it can be used for urban or semi-urban vegetable production.

Vigyan ashram  have started small trial for checking its scope and feasibility in Indian condition. We have also checking few new agricultural techniques with aquaponics system  as NFT (Nutrient film Technique ) , Flood and drain System . Right now we are conducting one trial on NFT (Photo No – 1) in which we are testing Cabbage , Capsicum growth with normal planted control plot(with Guppy and cattla fish). In second trial(Photo 2) we are testing flood and drain system (with bell & siphon method & Guppy fish) and on third trial (Photo 3)we are checking NFT with ornamental fishes (Indoor system with Gold fish ).

After initial 6 month trial , we are hoping to use it for WSHG training in urban , semi-urban area.

Egg Incubator

 

 

 

 

1.  Making and design of the mechanism for periodic rotation of the tray containing eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. circuit for driving relays.

 

 

 

 

Pentagraph

 

 

 

 

 

Pentagraph

Pentagraph is made at fablab with an intention of providing educational aid for fabcamp.