New Delhi. We all like coconut water, which is considered very beneficial for health, but it takes a lot of effort to peel it. Many people do not know how to present it in an attractive way? When KC Sejoy of Kanjani village in Thrissur, Kerala saw this, he made a coconut peeling machine.
The central government has recently given a grant of Rs 25 lakh for Sijoy’s invention. Sijoy, who was once a technician, is now the owner of his own company. His business has received incubation assistance under the ‘Agri-Entrepreneurship Orientation Program’ of Kerala Agricultural University. Also, last month his startup was selected among the top three startups. KP Sudhir, head of Raftar Agri-Business Incubator of the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Kerala Agricultural University, says that there are many other coconut peeling machines available in the market. But, Sijoy’s machine is high-tech and it can peel even the hard shell of coconut.
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Used to work in Saudi Arabia, when returned to India saw the trouble of peeling coconut
Sijoy did a Tool and Die Making course from Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) and after that, he went to Saudi Arabia to work. There, he worked in a big industry making moulds. He returned to India in 2005. He saw around him that many people are making a living from coconut. Some grow coconuts, while others sell coconuts. He told The Better India website that those who sell raw coconuts have to work very hard to peel them. So, Sijoy researched about it and saw if there was any machine available to cut or peel coconuts. There were some machines but they were only used for raw coconuts.
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Machine made after ten years of hard work
After nearly 10 years of research and hard work, Sijoy created a special coconut peeling machine. This machine not only peels a coconut in 40 seconds, but also cuts its slightly hard shells into one millimeter size, which can be fed to animals as fodder. For this, he first created a prototype of the machine using the knowledge of his training course and his work experience in Saudi Arabia. He filed a patent for his prototype in the year 2015. He received the patent in the year 2017.
Coconut after peeling by Sijoy’s machine (Photo Credit: The Better India)
After making the machine, commercial use started and partnership with supermarket
Sijoy has registered his business under the name ‘Kukkos Industries’. He had also partnered with many supermarkets to sell peeled coconuts. He used to buy coconuts from the local people and give peeled coconuts to the supermarkets at the rate of Rs 30. But, after a few months, he stopped this. According to him, to earn more from this machine, it was necessary to improve it further according to the market. After this, Sijoy has made some changes in the machine. He has now installed a 750 watt motor in it so that 60 to 80 coconuts can be peeled in an hour. He says, “The commercial model is not available in the market right now. But when I make all the changes, I will make some machines available in Thrissur district. For a year, I will observe the working of the machine, if there is any problem, then fix it and prepare a final model, which can be sold across the country.”
Tags: Startup Idea, Success Story
FIRST PUBLISHED : March 3, 2021, 12:23 IST