Maharashtra Farmer designs spray pumps for agriculture with the help of BYST
A rural entrepreneur from nondescript Pimpalgaon village, from Gangapur tehsil of Aurangabad district in Maharashtra, manufactures a diverse range of agriculture spray pumps. 29-year-old Yogesh Gawande aspires to become a leader and compete with national industry players and multinationals. Yogesh Gawande founded Niyo Innovative Solutions, an agriculture product manufacturing start-up, five years ago, with the support of the Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), a non-profit that supports lesser privileged Indian youth in developing their business ideas into viable enterprises under the guidance of a mentor. Gawande started his business with a bank loan of Rs. 5.5 lakh in 2017. “We have a unique agri-product in terms of its functionality; because of which there is no direct competition. The spray pumps have been meticulously designed by our team, incorporating a significant improvement by integrating wheels,” he said. “In addition to this, the spray pump needs no direct contact with the user’s body. This stands in contrast to prevailing models that may potentially result in physical disabilities in farmers over time. Our product can be operated manually and with batteries,” he added. “We are also experimenting with a diesel engine-fitted spray pump, which will further increase its capacity for use in big farms,” he said, adding that in India there was a huge market for his cost-effective product, as there are over 500 million medium and marginal farmers in the country. Today, his company Niyo Farmtech Pvt Ltd employs around 100 workers directly and indirectly, and has earned revenues of over Rs 11 million in FY22-23. Commenting on the success and challenges faced by Yogesh Gawande, BYST founding and managing trustee, Lakshmi Venkataraman Venkatesan said, “he developed a prototype of the spray pump in his first year of college and was awarded for his innovation. BYST provided financial and mentoring support, and he was able to develop a new product for the market.” Gawande’s product portfolio now has a hand-operated spray pump and a battery-operated spray pump. Both products have had a great impact on the farming community, helping over 12,000 farmers in 14 states. They no longer need to carry heavy pumps on their backs but can conveniently wheel them to their farm sites.
