Sri Lanka, March 25 -- Paddy drying is a common sight in rural areas of the country, especially during the post-harvest season. But it is a tedious task for farmers to collect their paddy stocks as it is not only time consuming but also requires additional equipment, labour and money. To address this challenge, Indika Bandara, a farmer from Ridee Pokuna, Welikanda, Polonnaruwa has developed a paddy collecting machine that allows farmers to collect dried or moist paddy within a span of an hour.

Indika Bandara Having completed a motor mechanic course back in 2000, Bandara had already developed several other machines mainly for his own convenience. "I developed a machine to sort out rows of grass that grow in paddy cultivations and another...