: NID Graduates Innovate Low-Cost, Water-Resistant Shoes For Farmers From Wool #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture In April 2018, three graduates of the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad set out to two

NID Graduates Innovate Low-Cost, Water-Resistant Shoes For Farmers From Wool #IndiaNEWS #Agriculture
In April 2018, three graduates of the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad set out to two villages named Wathar and Nanded in Maharashtra. Nakul Lathkar (30), Vidyadhar Bahndare (31) and Santosh Kocherlakota (31) decided to spend six months among rural farmers and live the same routine as them to understand the hardships the community faced.
“We chose Nanded and Wathar because those areas experience extreme climatic conditions. Nakul and Vidyadhar had relatives who were willing to host us there for a few months. We did this after our graduation so that we could understand ground-level problems and innovate user-friendly solutions,??? says Santosh.
The trio would wake up early in the morning, go to the fields with the farmers, and observe the work they did. By the end of their stay, the team had identified 20 different problems, including insufficient water supply and poor storage facilities, among others.
Vidyadhar Bahndare (31) Santosh Kocherlakota (31) and Nakul Lathkar (30) the founders of Earthen Tunes.
Finally, they narrowed it down to five major problems which they felt were unaddressed and started working on a solution for the first one — footwear for farmers.
“During those six months, we spoke to several farmers and noticed one common problem — none of them had appropriate footwear. While working under the hot sun, or in a sloshy field, all the farmers walked barefoot. This not only caused deep cracks in their feet but also made them prone to fungal infections and snake bites,??? Santosh, tells The Better India.
In 2019, they launched a company named Earthen Tunes headquartered in Hyderabad. So far, they have provided 30 farmers with comfortable shoes, and are in the process of making 1,000 more.
Weaving a comfortable solution
On further probing the issue, the trio understood that footwear available in the market were not suitable for farmers in those areas. There exist some leather-based solutions such as gumboots, but they are not suitable for all weather conditions.
“Most of the solutions available in the market are designed for urban farmers. Gumboots, the most prevalent solution, are not comfortable for rural farmers because they need to be worn over pants. Even if there are shoes suitable for farmers in rural areas, they are not durable,??? says Santosh.
The farmers needed shoes that would be comfortable on dry land as well as in slush, and those that would keep their feet cool in summers and warm in winters. Another important factor the team had to consider was to ensure the product was budget-friendly.
So, they travelled to various states across the country including Kerala and Karnataka trying to find a natural material to stitch shoes with.

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