A solar vehicle for small farmers

The idea

Suhani Chauhan is a student of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar, in Delhi. In Class VII, a geography chapter comparing wealthy American farmers with poor Indian farmers set her thinking.

“I found the contrast startling,” she told Science India magazine. “It set me thinking and that can be said to be the genesis of this vehicle.” She also visited farms near Manesar and spoke to farmers about their daily problems.

What SO-APT does

Her answer is SO-APT — short for Solar Operated Agro vehicle with Portable Tools. It is a solar-powered farm vehicle that can sow seeds, spray, irrigate and dig holes, and its panels can also run fodder-cutting machines, pumps, fans and lights, or charge a mobile phone. It carries up to 400 kg, travels about 60 km on a full charge, and costs about ₹2.5 lakh — far less than a regular tractor, Science India reported.

Suhani calculates that if just 1% of India’s tractors used her technology, it would save ₹1,800 crore of diesel and about 272,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every year; those savings are her own estimates, reported in interviews, not independently audited. She first built SO-APT as a summer science project with her teachers’ help and showcased it at National Technology Week 2023.

The recognition

On 22 January 2024, President Droupadi Murmu gave her the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for 2024 in the Innovation category at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. She was the only Innovation recipient — and the only awardee from Delhi — among the 19 children honoured.