Final Day of the Dinamalar Agri-Expo

After 4 days, the தினமலர் Agri-Expo in Trichy closed. It was a useful time spent by us at the Expo, with our staff being able to spread the message to many people in the farming community. It was heartening to repeatedly hear from participants things like 'I've been looking for someone like you', 'What a great idea', 'It's great that you're doing something to help the people' and the like. There were a few people who already had ideas floating around and who were keen on applying for incubation support right away - ideas from these people varied from internet marketplaces to groundnut clipping machines, and many things in between. It will be interesting to see how these leads are transformed into incubatees and also how the general publicity exercise continues spreading the message of/about L-RAMP.

Our two exhibiting incubatees were a great support to us. It was gratifying to see and hear first-hand how they appreciated the help we are able to provide and to use their example as an instant testimonial to our incubation programme (and the fact that we aren't going to steal people's ideas). Having the incubator and incubatee together is a great mutually reinforcing combination and one which we will most likely repeat in future exhibitions.

Nemate Gro (promoted by GloTech Organics, Trichy) and the Sugavari Sprinkler (promoted by Cosy Industries, Chennai) both ended the Expo with successful results, having each signed up many interested farmers for field trials and sold some of their products. It was interesting for me to see how quickly the farmers understood the value proposition of each product and how easy it was to sell a good product face-to-face. That being said, the ability of each promoter to quickly bring the benefits of the product to light was essential to drive interest and when both promoters were directly engaging the farmers, the clamour in front of the stall was often 2-3 farmers deep, rivalling that of the Coffee Board of India (2 stalls down from us, selling great coffee at a good price).

It was long, interesting, sometimes tiring, occasionally wet, often busy and full of learnings :: the Dinamalar Agri-Expo was a successful 4-day venture for L-RAMP.

Day 2 of the Dinamalar Agri-Expo

Live from Trichy, our day 2 report.

A second innovation joined us today, with the Novel Sprinkler being promoted by Cosy Industries arriving to setup early in the morning. Actually seeing the device and watching the interaction with the farmers gave many clues on how it was going to be used, what the important aspects were to farmers and different ways that these products should be marketed. The Sprinkler's sales model on this day was highly unconventional -- he was offering sprinklers at 2% of their retail cost in exchange for field-trial data from the farmers (and using cash prizes as incentives for farmers to actually pursue trials). The number of farmers he signed up in 1 day is already double his target for the entire Agri-Expo. It was very interesting to watch the amazed look on the farmers faces as he explained the lack of moving parts, the simplicity of the design and the photos and videos of the device actually working. Simple design+useful output=socially beneficial innovation.

The booth was very busy with the crowd in front often among the largest in our bay of 40 stalls. Both Nemate Gro and L-RAMP had to print extra promotional material, with our 1000 brochures being distributed to the crowds in 2 days. We've seen both farmers and families passing through, with a small number of keen innovators sprinkled throughout.

In (short) summary, day 2 was another busy, warm and instructive exercise - we expect tomorrow to be the busiest day though, given the weekend and that all the booths will (finally) be completed. We will be joined by our 3rd innovation (the pin pulverizer) and so we're looking forward to more crowds, more questions and more social benefit delivered to those who can benefit most from it.

Special thanks to our friends from Samruddhi for helping answer questions in Tamil!

Day 1 of the Dinamalar Agri-Expo

Day 1 at the Dinamalar Agro Expo 2008. With 75 000 to 100 000 people expected to pass through the show in the next 4 days, it is a good opportunity to promote L-RAMP and its activities to both potential innovators and entrepreneurs. We have our booth set-up with standard promotional materials, we're also sharing booth space with successful L-RAMP innovators-turned-entrepreneurs who are marketing their own products. Today's product is 'Nemate Gro' – an organic fertilizer derived from the Neem plant, which promotes plant growth while also protecting against pests and disease. Our front display table has bags of fertilizer, which happen to closely resemble bags of dirt, sitting alongside L-RAMP pamphlets showing the sculpting of a clay pot (presumably meant to symbolize the creation of a new product). One attendee, trying to logically connect the items on display asked 'So L-RAMP, what do you guys do? Make pots using that dirt?' Yep, there is still some ways to go in promoting L-RAMP and its services within the local population. We may also need to re-think the front of our brochures.

The highlight of the day has been watching the amount of interest generated by Nemate Gro. It's been a long climb for the innovator Mr. R. Augustine. He started developing the product in 2006 and completed the initial product development and pilot scale tests on his own. L-RAMP met Mr. Augustine in 2007 and, at that point in time, helped with the final product development and large-scale product testing. The product is now starting the commercialization stage. It is currently sold via direct scales, Samruddhi and some other local stores. Mr. Augustine is now looking for large-scale distributors to expand the product reach.

Mr. Augustine is a good example of an innovator who is succeeding in making the transition to become an entrepreneur but, as mentioned in Devynani's post, not all innovators have the interest or aptitude in making this leap. Business incubation requires a very different skill set from innovation incubation. Through my work at L-RAMP, I've had the opportunity to meet individuals who are passionate about innovating and want to create real value and benefit to others through their products, but given the choice that's where their involvement would stop. Ideally, they would like to find someone else to take their product to the market. For this reason, it is important for L-RAMP to not just find and support innovators, but to also learn how to find people at the other end of the journey, entrepreneurs interested taking these products through to the market, and to facilitate technology transfer between innovator and entrepreneur.

We've been discussing different avenues for identifying potential entrepreneurs and linking innovation to entrepreneur. At the next agri fair we plan to showcase product briefs on innovations ready for tech transfer to see how much interest that generates. One never knows.

L-RAMP goes to the Dinamalar Agri-Expo

Look for L-RAMP at the Dinamalar Agri-Expo in Trichy (Tiruchchirappalli for those booking train tickets) from May 8th to May 11th at the National College HSS grounds. 75,000 farmers from all over Tamil Nadu are expected to attend, as well as over 150 organizations exhibiting their wares. We will be in booth 61.

L-RAMP teams (speaking both English and தமிழ்) will be available to discuss innovations with innovators, give information about our programmes to the interested public and accept applications for incubation for those so inclined. If you are an innovator with an idea, interested in our work or want to learn more about how we are helping alleviate poverty through innovation and enterprise, please stop by our booth and talk with us.

We are pleased to host 3 of our innovations at our booth as well - representatives will be demonstrating their products and answer questions. Innovations being demonstrated are

• Nemate
• Pin Pulverizer
• Novel Sprinkler

We look forward to seeing you there!