Agriculture Technology News: Use of Biofuel for Agriculture Machine.

From Hoovinahalli in Hassan district the farmer who has not passed SSLC. Yet, his passion for innovation and experimentation is evident in all that he does.

He runs a ragi-cleaning machine, a tractor and an irrigation pumpset on biofuel that he has produced and blended with conventional fuel. Agricultural scientists in India and abroad are hailed his achievement. To observe his experiment, many scientists from abroad have visited his farm. Fifty-one-year-old Ramesh has about 100 honge trees on his 40-acre farm. He collects its seeds and produces oil using a small machine developed by the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru and he blends this oil with diesel to run his agricultural machinery.

He says “I have been blending one litre of honge oil with 10 litres of diesel since 2012-13. It is giving me excellent results.”

When he was at the Krishi Mela of the UAS-B in 2012, the idea of biofuel caught his imagination. He was at a stall that demonstrated a model of bus engine being powered by biofuel. Ramesh says “Through experimentation, I zeroed in on the 1:10-litre combination, where 1 litre of honge oil is blended with 10 litres of diesel as that reduces smoke and gives best results.”

He is proud that four farmers in the surrounding villages have started emulating him. He says “Initially, people ridiculed me saying I would end up spoiling my tractor engine. Now I am happy as my biofuel has helped me save Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 a year.”

He says biofuel could be one of the options to make farming sustainable by reducing expenses. Expressing fear that the cost of petroleum may increase sharply in the next 10 years.

He has a suggestion for farmers and policymakers “If you want to make farming sustainable after 10 years, please promote planting of biofuel saplings from today. We do not have adequate availability of honge seeds if a sizeable number of farmers come forward to use biofuel.”