Designed, fabricated, and field-tested from scratch — a manually operated rice transplanting device that won at both national and international competitions.
Rice transplanting in Nepal is one of the most labor-intensive and physically demanding agricultural tasks — requiring farmers to spend hours bent over in flooded paddies, manually placing seedlings row by row. Transplanting season is a major bottleneck for small-scale hill farmers.
This project designed and built a manually operated transplanting device that reduces physical strain, increases planting uniformity, and speeds up the transplanting process — using locally available materials and fabrication techniques accessible to rural workshops.
The device was designed, fabricated, and field-tested entirely by the team, from initial sketches to working prototype, validated in real paddy field conditions in Nepal.
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Manual transplanting requires farmers to work bent at the waist for 6–10 hours per day, leading to chronic back injuries. Planting rows are inconsistent, which reduces yield and makes mechanical harvesting difficult. Rural labor is scarce during peak seasons.
The transplanter allows the farmer to work in an upright position while the mechanism places seedlings at uniform depth and spacing. No fuel or electricity required — suited for terraced hill farms with no motor access. Fabricable in local workshops.
Awarded 1st Place at the Delta 4.0 competition, a national-level technical event recognizing engineering innovation. The transplanter was evaluated on design, fabrication quality, technical feasibility, and social impact potential for Nepal's smallholder farming sector.
Won the HULT Prize Eastern Region round with the rice transplanter concept. Competed against interdisciplinary teams in a business pitch format, presenting the device's social enterprise potential for rural Nepal — reducing physical burden on farmers while improving productivity.
Selected from the Eastern Region win to represent Nepal at the HULT Prize International Round in Mumbai — competing against teams from across South and Southeast Asia in the social entrepreneurship track.