JaRID - Jatropha for Rural Indian Development

Mission:

To help the village to become self-dependant in its energy needs, to use the waste land to empower womenhood and to drive rural India towards a socially, economically and environmentally better future.

JARID is a multi-stage project aimed at (1) helping villages to become self-sufficient in their energy needs, (2) improving womankind, and (3) driving rural India towards a socially, economically, and environmentally better future.Our model is new and would bring about rural empowerment and a distributed development.Ten Ha of wasteland will be procured for the cultivation of the Jatropha plant in a rural village; the land will also be intercropped with Aloe-Vera for financial sustenance during the first two years that the Jatropha nursery is being raised. The local and nearby villagers will be educated through awareness camps and workshops about the need for energy security using renewable sources and alternative crops. By providing seeds at a nominal price, these villagers will take up small-scale plantations or use the land for fencing crops.

During the second year, using income obtained from the intercrop, trans-estrification machinery and other infrastructure will be installed to produce biodiesel. Once the Jatropha plants produce yield (2.5 – 3 years), we will be prepared to manufacture the biodiesel. The Jatropha seeds will also be purchased from the villagers, and once the biodiesel is manufactured, it will be sold back to the villagers.

Tractor and motor vehicle owners, diesel-based water pump users, and flour and rice mills will be targeted for selling the bio-diesel as a cheaper and equally efficient alternative. In an attempt to replace the dependency on petroleum products, usage in cooking will be encouraged by providing Jatropha oil-based stoves, thus leading to a more cost effective and environmentally friendly energy source compared to petroleum or kerosene.

JaRID was a runner up project at Indian Institute Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Social entrepreneurship competition .

JaRID was a finalist at Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT) -Ideas.

JaRID was a semi-finalist at Oxford University - Youth in Business Development.

JaRID has been represted at
NEN,
SIFE,
MIT-Ideas
Oxford University - Youth In Business Development
Standford University- E-Challenge
IIT-Madras
Global Knowledge Partnetship - International Young Social Entrepreneur Forum