NAVA Design & Innovation Pvt Ltd

Tree of Life

The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae).
The tree is said to have originated in the southeastern parts of Asia. Every part of a coconut tree from root to fruit are useful to the mankind as food, drink,cosmetics, hearth & home, furniture, vessels & even clothing. Coconut tree is also known as ‘Kalpavriksha,’ which literally translates to “Tree of Heaven” or “Tree of life”.

For thousands of years, Pacific Islanders have used coconut as their primary source of food and medicine, as a result, they have always been among the healthiest, longest-lived people in the world. Because they have maintained their traditional diets, they are known to be generally free of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other degenerative conditions common in the western culture.

Global Context

Coconut is the most naturally widespread fruit plant on the Earth. In 1997 the total world area planted with coconut palms was about 12 million hectares and hence it is estimated that more than 2 Billion Coconut trees are growing around the World. There are over 150 species of coconut trees growing in over 90 countries. Coconut trees can be dwarf and tall. Dwarf coconut trees can reach 20 to 60 feet in height, while tall coconut trees grow to the height of 98 feet. Depending on the variety and growing conditions, coconut palms begin fruiting between four and ten years after planting and they grow, flower, and fruit all year round. With a life span of 80-90 years, it is considered as a “three-generation tree” as it can support a farmer, his children, and his grandchildren.

Coconut Sap

Neera also called palm nectar, is a sap extracted from the inflorescence of various species of palms including coconut palm and is used as a nutritional health drink. Neera is sweet with a low GI, translucent in color, and has substantial amounts of iron, phosphorus, and ascorbic acid. The value- added products from neera are Coconut Sugar, Coconut Syrup, Coconut Honey &Palm Jaggery. Neera is susceptible to natural fermentation at ambient temperature within a few hours of extraction and once fermented it becomes toddy and further converts to Coconut Cider Vinegar. The famous lifestyle drink, the Coconut Arrack is manufactured by distilling Toddy. Coconut sugar, which is made by boiling neera, contains protein, 16 amino acids, Vitamin B, iron, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and zinc. The most significant characteristic of neera and its products is the low Glycemic Index (GI), an indicator of the extent of sugar absorbed into the blood. While table sugar has a GI of 70, sugar made from neera has a GI of 35. Foods with GI less than 55 are classified as low GI foods and can be used by people suffering from diabetes and high cholesterol.

Need of Innovation

Even in this 21 st Century, Neera/Toddy tapping from the coconut palm trees are done manually in all the coconut growing countries. Tapping is a traditionally acquired perilous skill passed from generation to generation and is considered as one of the most dangerous job in the World. This traditional job is on the verge of extinction as most of the skilled traditional tappers are aged, retired, discontinued, or moved to easier jobs and they didn’t want their children to do this arduous job. Neera and its value-added products can generate 7 times more income to the farmers than the regular nut production but due to the scarcity of skilled manpower, most of the neera producers had quit from this lucrative business.

about

Who we are

Nava Design & Innovation Pvt Ltd is an Agri-tech startup company founded in 2016 that works towards bringing AI & Robotics to enrich the agriculture sector. The primary focus of the company is to help farmers & FPOs gain better profits and increase productivity to meet the National & International demand. Increase in production allows farmers to diversify the product portfolios and can encourage women empowerment in the cottage industries by manufacturing value-added products.

Our Journey

In 2017, the company started incubated in the Maker Village under MeitY. During its journey, the company has received Idea Day Grant from KSUM and Ankur Grant from BPCL. Singularity University – Silicon Valley, has recognized Nava Design & Innovation as one of the top 25 startups for Global Impact Challenge in India. The company has received seed investments from IIITMK and also won the Altair startup challenge. Millennium Alliance, a consortium of partners including USAID, DST, FICCI, DFID, ICCO Cooperation, Netherlands, World Bank Group, Facebook, and Marico Innovation Foundation granted the Stage-1 Award for piloting the device in the rural areas. In 2020, “SAPER” won the prestigious “National Startup Award” by #startupindia in the agriculture productivity domain.

Our Innovation

"SAPER" is an automatic coconut palm tapping robot developed for tapping neera or toddy.

The company’s product “SAPER” is the “World’s First Coconut Sap Tapping Robot” which have patents granted in 28 major coconut developing countries which constitutes 90% of the global coconut market. SAPER can perform all the activities of a traditional tapper and the fresh sap is collected at the ground level. With the centralized closed collection technology, fresh contamination free sap from multiple trees can be collected and stored. A tapper is required to install and dismantle the device and thus reduces the burden of tree climbs from 270 times to just 2 times for an inflorescence. A single tapper can handle a hectare of land and increases the productivity. With the precision robotic cutting mechanism yield of the inflorescence is doubled. The device works on AI, Solar energy and leaves zero carbon foot print. Our device helps improve the income of both farmer & tapper, reduces the risks associated with tree climbs and fatal falls.

Our aim

The company aims to scale the robotic device to serve the global market as the demand for value- added products like Coco Sugar, Jaggery, Coco honey, Coconut Cider Vinegar, etc are in rapid growth. The Coconut Sugar itself is a 1.3 Billion USD market. It gained popularity due to its Low Glycemic Index and are rich in vitamins & minerals. It has twice the iron, four times the magnesium, and over ten times the zinc when compared to brown sugar obtained from sugar cane. Our robotic device boosts the agrarian economy, improves the export income, eliminates poverty, increases the yield & productivity, promotes gender equality, women empowerment, minimizes the risks associated with tree climbs and ensures better livelihood to Coconut farmers especially in the rural areas. We share the common interests with the United Nations and achieves 9 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

“The juice of coconut tree can be transformed into a sugar as soft as honey. Nature created this product such that it could not be processed in factories. Palm Sugar can only be produced in palm tree habitats. Local population can easily turn nectar into coconut blossom sugar. It is a way to solve the world’s poverty. It is also an antidote against misery.”

- Mahathma Gandhi ( 3 / 5 / 1939 )