GUNTUR: This 32-year-old Acharya Nagarjuna University assistant professor’s innovation has come as a boon for aqua farmers. The chain dragging boat invented by Mohammed Touseef Ahamad, a native of Namburu village in Guntur, is being used by aqua farmers in Nizampatnam and coastal areas in Guntur district.
The young professor came up with the idea during an agriculture-related seminar, where he interacted with farmers and enquired about their woes.
In aqua farming, while preparing a fish or shrimp pond, the pond is filled up to a depth of 80 to 100 cm and probiotics are added and chain dragged for seven days. Gentle dragging is done to enhance soil mixing and to minimise the development of biofilms, which might take about two months for the farmers. The process involves high expenditure and labour costs.
To make the process cost-effective and increase accuracy, Touseef Ahmad assembled a chain dragging boat. Instead of manual chain dragging, which takes about two months to complete a single pond, this mechanised chain dragging boat can complete 10 to 20 ponds in a day with a single operator.
Explaining the mechanics of the boat, he said: “The mechanism uses three boats, a steel frame and a seat for the driver. An engine with a shaft and a propeller is used to run the boat, which is assembled at the rare end. A GX160 engine with 4.5HP and 6,500 RPM is used for the boat, which has a three and a half-liter fuel storage tank.’’
“The chains which are used for dragging are attached to the rare end of the hooks. Initially, I faced a lot of problems due to lack of funding but somehow managed to complete the project. The hassle was worth it as I saw happiness on the face of farmers, when they used the boat for the first time,” the assistant professor said and added, “I received a patent for the same in 2021. I am planning to manufacture them and provide them to farmers. I am working to make this more useful and multi-purpose.”
Besides this, the assistant professor also developed a device to remove and collect hyacinth and a beach cleaning machine. He pursued his BTech and MTech in Hyderabad and joined as an assistant professor in a university in 2012.
He received a gold medal as best TPO (Assistant Professor and Training and Placement Officer) by KarmSathi NGO and was nominated for iB Hubs Super 30, a nationwide initiative to honour inspiring teachers across the country.