Abdul Khaddar was driven to quit his sales job after he developed unbearable back pain due to long hours of travel. That was almost seven years back in 2011, recalls Khaddar, talking about his venture SAFS Organic, which is into manufacture of eco-friendly solar-powered insect light trap.

“I moved from Bengaluru to Puducherry. Even as a young lad, I used to enjoy gazing at nature and this love made me sit out in fields during those difficult days, which was when I started studying the social habits of animals.

“I realised that farmers used light trap to capture pests. I wanted to improvise on the light trap and started working on developing a solar-powered insect trap. Though the idea seemed simple, it took me almost 3-5 years of research to understand, design and develop an effective model.

“Brinjal, cotton and jasmine for instance are prone to pest infestation. I was looking to control the pest attack in such crops. We made many prototypes with high power yellow LED and tried it in different fields, before developing the solar version of the trap.

“The device traps only those pests that are harmful for the crop. To understand this, we did and continue to study the behaviour of beneficial insects and those impacting the crop such as stem borer, white fly and pink bollworm.

“This data helped us develop the logic on which we built the device using specific light wave-length technology. The device is today used as an accessory for integrated pest management,” says Khaddar.

A cross section of vegetable growers we spoke to said that the device captures 60 per cent of the pest in crops like brinjal and jasmine.

We have supplied 8,000 devices in the last year and half. It is designed to operate in all climatic conditions. The LED light on the lower side solar panel attracts pests. The device is effective in trapping pests over an area covering 120 ft radius. No major maintenance is required except for replacement of battery and bulb, explained Khaddar

The device is manufactured in Puducherry.

“We are manufacturing around 5,000 pieces a month. We have an established dealer network across the southern states. We are now expanding to Maharashtra and Uttarakhand.

“The trap is effective in controlling moth in avocado in New Zealand and Australia. We have sold some pieces in the UK as well.

The only issue in shipment across borders is the battery. Buyers ask us to despatch the device without the battery,” he said adding “we will soon be despatching five pieces to Indonesia.”

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