EF Polymer has developed an eco-friendly water retention natural polymer. It is fully organic, biodegradable in nature, pollution-free Super Absorbent Polymer that can absorb 100 times more water than its weight.
This high water absorption helps soils to maintain moisture for a long period that directly supports better growth of the plant. Due to its organic nature, it starts to biodegrade in the soil after 6 months and completely degrades in 12 months while supporting the soil as organic fertilizer.
They were recently the finalists in the National Startup Awards 2020 in the category of Agriculture.
They are now ready to launch their product by next year after the pilot which is now happening in 150 acres in Uttar Pradesh. It is now focused on raising investment funds for pre-series A round to expand the team to meet milestones of capacity building, marketing, and sales.
It all started with an idea to develop water-saving products for agriculture. In early 2017 they were able to develop our prototype which was tested and validated in Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur. And, then it was presented at IIT Mumbai where it got to the first place in the IIT Techfest 2017.
EF Polymer Private Limited is an agricultural startup based out in Rajsamand, India. It is also registered as a Private Limited company in Okinawa, Japan in March 2020.
“We founded EF Polymer Private Limited out of a pure passion to help farmers across the world struggling with the water crisis. we are working on our mission to deliver our first innovative product Fasal Amrit to farmers living in drought-prone areas around the world ” say the founders of EF Polymer.
It has received various national and international awards and recognitions from across the world.
Product:
The organic polymer named “Fasal Amrit” helps plants to survive for 4-12 days additional without water. Fasal Amrit is available in powder form which makes it easy to use by mixing it with soil or fertilizer or seeds and put into the soil by hand spreading or by seed drill machine. With experiments and field trials, it has been noticed that it can help farmers to save water and the usage of Fasal Amrit provides an additional option to irrigate farmers crops with limited water, without losing crop yield.
Promoters:
Narayan Lal Gurjar is founder CEO of EF Polymer, while Puran Singh Rajput is the co-founder and COO of EF Polymer. Both belong to Rajsamand, a village in Rajasthan and were involved with agricultural issues since their college days.
Shashi Pratap Singh, Budhhi Prakash Gurjar and Ankit Jain are students of the Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, are the other key members of the team.
Impact:
Agriculture is both a cause and a victim of water scarcity. With the ever-advancing technology era we are living in, still, there is a lot to do with water usage in agriculture. As per the statistics, more than 70% of freshwater gets used in irrigation around the world, which is 85% for India. Other challenges in agriculture such as abundant usage of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and crop waste management can’t be ignored.
According to the promoters, by using the product, farmers can reduce the water requirement for irrigation to 40%, fertilizer requirement by 50% and can increase yield from the crop by 150% at first with barren land.
The company hopes that their product Fasal Amrit can help farmers raise crops with lesser water and in a more sustainable manner.
Awards & Recognition:
- Support from Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Japan: The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to support EF Polymer Private Limited under the “University-launched Venture Entrepreneurship Promotion Demonstration Project”.
- Okigin Furusato Promotion Fund Award: Narayan Lal Gurjar, Founder & CEO of EF Polymer Private Limited has been awarded 1 Million JPY award money in Okigin Furusato Promotion Fund Award organized by The Okinawa Bank Ltd. The award has been facilitated in the Environment category of funds.
- #1000 Efficient Solution Label from Solar Impulse Foundation: EF Polymer has been labeled as 1000 Efficient Solution for 2018 where Solar Impulse Foundation evaluated the solution in Feasibility, Environmental Impact, and Profitability.
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, Startup Accelerator Program: We have selected for one-year in-residential startup accelerator program supported by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University with funding of 10M JPY.
- Okinawa Science and Technology Promotion Center Grant: The Okinawa Science and Technology Promotion Center (OSTC) has selected EF Polymer Private Limited to support the research activities in Okinawa, Japan by granting 3.5 Million JPY. The research has been planned with The University of Ryukyus, Agriculture Department.
- RKVY-RAFTAAR Grant: EF Polymer Private Limited has been selected for INR 23 Lac’s grant support in the RKVY-RAFTAAR Startup Support Program from Govt. of Rajasthan co-organized with National Institute of Agriculture Marketing, Rajasthan (NIAM).
- Social Alpha Quest for Agritech Innovations! Powered by Social Alpha and supported by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Tata Trust in partnership with IIT Kanpur, Incubation & Innovation IIT Kanpur, CINI with the collaboration of Government of Uttar Pradesh. We have selected as Winner of this award and will get support in scale-up funding from Uttar Pradesh Government.
- Carbon Tech Award: The Climate Launchpad international organization runs a program in more than 53 countries and they shortlisted after the national round. This time in 2019, they shortlisted 130 teams from 53 countries, and the event is organized in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We have been awarded the Carbon Tech Award with 5,000 Euros of grant money.
- Leadership Innovation Fellowship: Selected by the Royal Academy of Engineering, London for 2 weeks of Business Development Workshop. Winner in the Startup Innovator Pitch was organized by RAE at the end of the workshop. Also, I got mentoring support for project development.
- Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award: Organized by Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, National Innovation Foundation, supported by Honey Bee Network at President House.
