Farmers in Bangladesh have long had an irrigation problem. Water is often plentiful in ponds or in the shallow water table underfoot, but getting that water onto the crops is no easy task. Diesel pumps are expensive, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to fully water the land with a bucket.
A solution has appeared in the form of the treadle pump, a sort of Stairmaster that pumps water. The device takes water-carrying work away from a polluting machine and puts in the hands (or rather under the feet) of the farmer.
Invented by in 1981 by an aid worker, the treadle pump has sold more than 1.4 million units in Bangladesh, according to IDE (PDF file), with many more in use in India and Africa. They range in price from $20 to $100 and may be made of metal or bamboo.
Twenty hours a week on the water treadmill will irrigate a quarter-hectare field – enough to empower a farmer to grow an extra crop cycle each year, to make each crop more robust, and bring home more money for the family.
I must say, I enjoy reading your article. Maybe you could let me know how I can subscribing with it ? I feel I should let you know I found your page through yahoo.
Hi Arnold,
Glad you found the story, and that you enjoyed it! As for subscription, that’s no problem.
If you want to have my blog posts sent to your email, you can sign up through this link:
http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=theferrisfiles/JWHA&loc=en_US
If you’d like to join my newsletter, which I send out every couple months and that includes some tidbits not found on the blog, put your contact info in the box in the right column of the homepage:
http://theferrisfiles.com
If it’s Sierra magazine you’d like to subscribe to, go here:
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Donation2?idb=0&df_id=7040&7040.donation=form1&autologin=true&s_src=N10ZSCZZ01&s_subsrc=JRG
Happy to be in touch.
Best regards,
David
This is a great invention. It should also be sold in industrial counties with many fat people who could exercise on the Treadle pump instead of paying a lot of money in the gym.
Agreed, Amos! Pump water, not iron.