Voices from the Field: Harish Reddy, Product Associate

Meet Harish Reddy, Spowdi’s Product Associate based in India, who works hands-on with farmers, partners, and Field Agents to install systems and provide training in the field. In this Q&A, Harish shares how Spowdi collaborates with its implementing partners and reflects on his experiences working on the ground.

As a Spowdi representative, can you briefly explain what you usually do when visiting implementing organisations to train and install systems? 

The first thing we do is to organise an online meeting with people from the implementing organisation, such as the heads of the organisation, the technical team, and Field Agents. There, we go through the technical information about the system and inform them about best practices and Smart Farming methods. For example, we discuss the layout of the land, how the system should be set up, water sources, maintenance, and so on. 

Later, since it is quite a lot of information, we also have on-the-ground field training where we will go through many of those things again. So, we’ll visit the implementing partner when they have received their systems and conduct a training program. The first half is classroom training, where we go through all the technical aspects again, along with explaining Smart Farming methods and the Spowdi app. The participants also get to touch and see the system up close, to see the quality and the different components. 

The second half of the training is completely practical, and I’ll show them how the installation process goes by installing one of the systems myself. That way, it is easy to show them the dos and don’ts during installation. After the whole training process is completed, the participating Field Agents will get their certificates so they are able to continue with installations in the future. 

You recently traveled to Kenya to train and install systems together with ChildFund and Hand in Hand Eastern Africa, how was that?  

This was the first time I visited another country, so at first, I was very nervous. However, the coordination together with the implementing partners was really good, and people were very helpful and friendly, so the three weeks I was there were great. It’s also very beautiful in Kenya, so I was happy to experience it. 

It was interesting to hear about the farmers’ challenges that they hoped the Spowdi system would help them with. Since climate change and irregular rainfalls affect water resources a lot, one of the major problems for the farmers is water conservation, and they have little access to technologies that could help. For example, here in India, some farmers use different conservation techniques to preserve water, such as rainwater harvesting, but many may be unaware that those tools exist. 

Another issue that the farmers are facing is that diesel and electricity-driven pumps have expensive operating costs, and the driplines they are using may only be working for one or two seasons before they have to buy new ones. Those who have used flood irrigation also mentioned that they lose soil fertility and experience changes in the texture and structure of the soil. Those are all problems that the Spowdi system can help with since there is no cost for fuel, the drip irrigation helps to preserve soil health, and we only use drip lines that are very sturdy and durable.

During training, people were very appreciative and excited to learn about Smart Farming and the system. Sometimes, the language barrier was a challenge, but the implementing partners were very good at translating when needed. Since it can be quite a lot of information during training, some of the people can feel a bit confused at times, so it’s important to give them many opportunities to ask questions and to touch and feel the system themselves. 

After you have done training and installations with implementing organisations, what’s next for those initiatives?  

The aim is, of course, for the initiatives to provide more and more farmers with access to Smart Farming technology and for the initiatives to become self-propelled to continue to generate impact by themselves. After the training, some of the participants become certified Field Agents. They have received practical training on installing the system and Smart Farming methods, which they will use to continue system installations for farmers. As the initiative grows, so will the number of trained Field Agents. They will also use the Spowdi app, which provides structure throughout the installation process, from approving pre-surveys to collecting impact data and feedback. So, each installation is registered and mapped to provide a continuous overview of how the initiative and installations are going. 

Out of all the installations you have made, is there a particular one that has been especially interesting or challenging? 

Installations are actually quite fun to do. Sometimes, it is a bit more difficult in certain environments if I’m alone. For example, we did some installations in Meghalaya in India recently, which is a very hilly region. Therefore, some of the farm fields were more elevated than the water sources, so we had to make some adjustments during the installations. Since I needed to monitor all parts of the system to see that it was working properly, I needed to climb the hills multiple times up and down while simultaneously teaching and demonstrating for the Field Agents. So that can be a bit demanding, but it’s also very rewarding when the system is in place and working, so the farmer can begin using their new technology and practices.