The company's farm diagnostic equipment integrates sensors, mobile connectivity and decision tools for affordable monitoring and automation. It reduces aquaculture famers' risks and increases productivity
Sreeram Raavi, founder and CEO of Eruvaka Technologies
Image: Vikas Chandra Pureti for Forbes India
Electrical engineer Sreeram Raavi spent the early years of his career at a fab-less semiconductor design company in Bengaluru, designing chips for wifi routers and broadband equipment. Born and raised in Pedanandipadu village in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur district, around chilli and cotton farms, his heart was always in farming.
“My passion was in applying technology to agriculture, and I was applying to various universities overseas to study agriculture robotics,” says Raavi. “I didn’t make it, so I decided to quit my job and follow my passion.”
In 2011, a freak change in the water quality of a pond owned by an uncle wiped out its entire population of fish overnight. They suffered a monetary loss. This propelled 36-year-old Raavi to think about what could be done to use technology to keep track of the water quality so that farmers can take preventive measures.
His uncle told him that aquaculture farmers had no scientific tools or methods to keep track of the vital parameters of their ponds, especially the volume of dissolved oxygen. If that oxygen level goes down beyond a point, the fish die. His uncle’s predicament, coupled with Raavi’s knowledge of sensors, triggered the idea behind his startup, Eruvaka Technologies. The name ‘Eruvaka’ refers to a festival that celebrates the onset of the sowing season, particularly celebrated by some coastal farmers in Andhra Pradesh.
(This story appears in the 18 June, 2021 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)