ABOUT THE INSTITUTE
The Gandhigram Rural Institute (GRI), founded by two dedicated disciples and contemporaries of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. G. Ramachandran and Dr. T. S. Soundaram Ramachandran, has as its foundation Mahatma Gandhi’s revolutionary philosophy of Nai Talim, which effectively bridges the cognitive and practical dimensions, and focuses on the holistic development of learners, with an emphasis on skill development through value-based education, rooted in indigenous cultures and traditions. Since its establishment in 1956, GRI has been unstintingly contributing to higher education and has successfully pioneered rural higher education.GRI is administered by the Ministry of Education, Government of India and fully funded through UGC, New Delhi. The three-dimensional approach to education namely teaching, research and extension has become a highly celebrated model, earning global and nationwide appreciation. Started in a small way the Institute has evolved into a reasonably large educational complex comprising of 8 Schools, 12 Departments and 16 centers offering 129 academic programmes. The Institute designs its academic programmes in tune with the demands of society and industry by providing learner-centric, transparent teaching and evaluation methods. Through action-oriented research, the Institute contributes substantially to the research domains and concentrates on solving the rural issues at micro levels.
The Gandhigram Rural Institute has a rich experience in developing and transferring rural-based technologies to the rural communities through capacity-building training and hands-on training to ICDS workers, Balwadi Teachers, NGOs, SHGs, Farm women, SC/ST people, panchayat leaders and village youth on various aspects from skill development to income generation. Few of the technologies transferred to SHGs and farm women are Oyster/ Milky mushroom cultivation, Vermi- based products (Vermicompost, vermi-wash and other products), Low-cost water test kit to analyze the microbial load in drinking water, Azolla cultivation and its value-added product development, Ornamental plant nursery establishment and ornamental fish farming for revenue development, Water defluorination technique, low-cost housing and building materials, solar and renewable energy devices, value-added food products and many more through funds tapped from UGC, NABARD, DST, DST-CAPART, DST-SEEED, TNSCST,TWAD and RGNIYD etc
ABOUT THE START-UP PROJECT
Seaweeds are the renewable resources of the coastal ecosystem. The initiatives of GOI through the PMMSY scheme are timely for increasing the income of the coastal population, especially the fisherfolk. The production of seaweeds is expected to increase from the current production of 30,000 tons to 11.20 lakh tons by 2025 with the infusion of funds from the flagship programme PMMSY. Tamil Nadu is the source of a variety of species of economically important seaweeds which produce 3 lakh tones of seaweeds per year. This would usher in the growth of seaweed-based industries in coastal belts and increase the socioeconomic status of the fishing community and the farmer’s near-bye. Reports indicate that the demand for seaweed-based bio-stimulants and other seaweed-based formulations is around 4, 50, 000 tons and it is said that India produces only 5% and the rest is imported. These data indicate that fisher folk have to be sensitized and motivated to venture into startups to develop seaweed-based products.
The primary objective of the present project is to demonstrate and provide training on seaweed-based products to improve the growth and yield performance of crops and enhance the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables that increase the income of the members of Fishermen Cooperative Societies. The developed technologies will be demonstrated to the trainees selected from coastal regions of Tamil Nadu and technology will be transferred to trainees interested in startups.