The JANAK SANTI - A Bullock-Drawn Multipurpose Tool Bar

Santi – a multipurpose tool bar used by poor farmers in Saurashtra, a semi-arid region in western India. Though the main frame of the Santi may not have changed significantly over the years, a number of innovations have been reported by the Honey Bee Network – a member of the Popular Coalition to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty (an NGO-driven movement coordinated by IFAD). The innovations in shape, design and concept, particularly in its attachments, are shown in the display.

Janak Santi, a model of the Santi, has the following innovative features that reduce the workload of farmers and particularly women when they are directly involved in operations:

• It can be used in sandy or sandy/loam light black soil.
• It can be used for a number of agricultural operations, such as ploughing, sowing, interplanting, weeding, earthing-up, bund-making, planking, etc., by changing the attachments in the perforated beam.
• There are 33 holes in the folding beam to fit the various attachments and to accomodate different inter-row spacings.
• It requires minimal maintenance because the attachments are removable and replaceable in the field.

Wheat Sowing Box, an attachment to the Santi, is an innovative mechanism for sowing wheat that ensures optimum spacing both between the plants in the rows and between the rows. The latter is easy, but plant-to-plant spacing is very difficult with bullock/camel-drawn implements. This sowing box improves germination and overcomes problems in establising the wheat crop.

Balloon – a special hoe-blade attachment for reducing damage to the crop while intercropping and earthing-up.

Danti – a special coulter/digger equipped with a sharp shoe to break up hard soil after harvesting rainfed crops such as groundnut. It is made of iron, has a life expectancy of 25-30 years, and is very economical to produce and use.

WATER LIFTING PULLEY – used for drawing water from an open well. No major structural changes have been made to the pulley, despite the fact that it has been used for thousands of years in rural India and other parts of the world. Recently, however, Amrutbhai Agrawat, an innovative village artisan, has developed two variations of the traditional pulley. These have the following unique features:

• They contain bearings to reduce friction.
• They have a self-operating stopper on the rope that prevents it from reversing while drawing up water. Hence villagers, usually women, can take a rest while lifting water.

They involve little friction and thus less labour, because they are equipped with a wheel and handle that pull the rope as its rotates. The new pulley also supports the water vessel when the person pulling up water wishes to take a rest.

Mini Kaliyu – an innovative groundnut digger with the following features:

• It requires less draught power because it has two wheels.
• It uproots groundnuts from a uniform depth without disturbing the pods.
• It has a unique twin blade that can be sharpened or replaced very easily. The depth of the blade can be adjusted.
• It can be fitted to different coulters for other agricultural operations such as ploughing (KALI-3).
• Transportation from the farmer’s house to the farm is made easier due to the incorporation of wheels in the construction.
• It is made of using iron and has an expected life of more than 25-30 years.

Amrutbhai Agrawat left school at the age of 12 after the death of his father and started working as a farm labourer. Later, he developed an interest in repairing farm implements, diesel engine pumps and other machinery. Impressed by his creative potential, some of the farmers in his village helped him set up a small workshop, launching him in the career of his choice. Between 1975 and 1997, he developed such innovative implements as a tilting bullock cart, a groundnut digger, a wheat sowing box, a twin blade, the Janak Santi, and a pulley for drawing water from wells. All of his implements are in great demand locally and some are displayed in this exhibition. He has always been concerned about the stress on bullocks and the drudgery for men and women in the drylands, and most of his innovations are the result of his efforts to reduce such drudgery. He was awarded the "SRISTI Sanman" by SRISTI in 1994 and received the Sardar Patel Krushi Sanshodhan Award from the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1996. He is married and has two married sons, who are equally innovative, and a daughter and three grandchildren. He is revered by fellow farmers for his generosity, religious outlook and willingness to help others. We wish he could have been here to demonstrate his brilliance and ingenuity.