New Delhi, January 15 ANI Mushtaq Ahmed Dar, a grassroots innovator from the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, has introduced a series of innovations that make the processing of walnuts easier and more efficient, as well as a device for climbing poles.
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, innovations for walnut processing include a Walnut Cracking Machine and a Walnut Peeler, Washer, and Sorter to streamline walnut production and help reduce the drudgery of people involved in the processing of walnuts, a niche occupation mainly in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and also in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
These have also empowered the people involved in the occupation by giving them the ability to supply fresh kernels to domestic and world markets by cracking walnuts of different types like paper-shelled, thin-shelled, medium-shelled, and hard shelled, efficiently and effectively, the ministry said in a statement.
It has also reduced the risk of shells cracking and flying during processing, which helps them grow their business by even exporting and marketing the edible fruit inside and not the shelled walnut. The technology has spawned interest from international markets, particularly from Afghanistan, during the 2017 India -- Afghanistan Trade and Investment Show.
It said that the genesis of his other innovation - Pole-Pro - is rooted in the complex geography of Kashmir Valley, where carrying bulky ladders for routine repairs delays the outcome every time. The Pole-Pro solution eliminated the need for bulky ladders in most situations. It helped first-hand diagnoses of problems in electricity, telecom, and other poles with safety protocols.
The technology is available in the market through Anventa Gadgetix Pvt Ltd, a start-up recognized by the Government of India DIPP 25154 and incubated by NIFientreC NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council a Technology Business Incubator TBI, hosted by NIF and supported by DST, according to the ministry.
Mushtaq has collaborated with other innovators to establish two start-ups recognized as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade DPIIT, supported by the National Innovation Foundation NIF India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology DST Government of India. Mushtaq's serial innovations have been mentioned by Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha in December 2021, and has been named by the government of India as Rafiq Innovations Pvt Ltd DIPP 8028 It is being incubated by NIFientreC.
Mushtaq Ahmed Dar is continuing to explore and come up with more innovations. NIF has supported him with Value Addition and Validation, Product Development, IP protection, Technology Transfer, and a Community Workshop in the region, so that he can create opportunities for an it-situ incubation in the future.