Part I OF I Tamil Nadu.pmd - National Innovation Foundation

03
PART I : INNOVATIONS FROM TAMIL NADU
Spathe cutting instrument
‘Spathe’ is the part of the plant evolving into a flower. In the southern districts of Tamil
Nadu there are millions of ‘palmirah’ (Borassus flabelliformis) trees. The spathe of these
trees yield a sweet juice used to make black sugar. Extracting this juice, however, is not
an easy job.
R Muruga Selvan
Thoothukdi
The average height of a palmirah tree is about a 100 feet and a worker has to climb the
tree more than three times a day to extract all the juice. Selvan has come up with a
simple device to reduce this workload. His instrument has a long rod with a knife at the
end, which is connected with an electric motor through wheels having teeth. The motor
is connected with a timer circuit through which 12 DC current is passed. A small plastic
box is attached around each spathe as well as at the bottom of the tree. When current is
passed through the circuit the motor rotates, which causes the attached knife to make a
small cut in the portion of the spathe. The timer circuit ensures that the motor rotates
thrice every day and the sweet juice keeps flowing from the spathe.
Workers can easily collect the juice from the bottom plastic box without having repeatedly
to climb the tree. He received a consolation award in NIF’s First National Competition
for Grassroots Innovations and Traditional Knowledge Practices in 2001.
* Though awarded earlier,
the innovator is a
professional as per the
present rules of NIF, which
were redefined 2003
onwards to specifically focus
on innovations from the
people of unorganised
sector.
TAMIL NADU INNOVATES 14