Khaira: A cycle paddy transplanter, which was developed by a Class IX girl student, has been adjudged the best in the district project exhibition at Balasore.
Madhusmita Sethy, daughter of Arjun Sethy from Sarat village in Gadapokhari panchayat under Khaira block in Balasore district, is a student of Gadapokhari High School.
She began her experiment after coming to know about the farmer deaths in the state through newspapers and TV channels. She wanted to understand the real cause behind the suicide of farmers.
After discussing the issue with her family members and teachers, she realised that the farmers are not getting adequate returns from their cultivation due to various reasons.
The prominent reasons are pest attack and irregular rainfall, she realised.
In a bid to help the farmers, she decided to develop a paddy transplanting cycle. With the assembling of two to three devices, the cycle can transplant paddy saplings and help reduce paddy transplanting costs. Besides, there is no maintenance cost as well, she claimed.
Her project was one among the 350 projects displayed at the district level science exhibition. A total of 31 projects — seven from Khaira – have been selected for the state level exhibition.
Madhusmita gave credit to her guide teacher Chandra Mohan Murmu and Biswa Ranjan Mohapatra of Kupari.
“My project being adjudged as the first will help me do better in the state level exhibition,” Madhusmita said.
She also expressed her desire to help farmers by bringing some changes in the traditional farming methods.
PNN