Foodtech company S4S helps farmers earn profits with solar-powered dehydrator

Life is not easy for the ‘ugly ducklings’ of the agricultural world. In the wake of the lockdown, the company, founded in 2014 by young entrepreneur Vaibhav Tidke along with collegemates Ganesh Bhere, Tushar Gaware, Shital Somani, Ashwin Pawade, Nidhi Pant and Swapnil Kokate, has empowered 2,700 women farmers and 200 micro-entrepreneurs near Aurangabad by training them in dehydration of natural produce. S4S trains women farmers in clusters of 20 per village guided by a field executive, to work on their dehydration projects. Building stability Amol Padul, an S4S agriculture extension officer, says his mother, Prabhavati from Hatmali village was among the earliest women agriculturalists to get trained in the project. The lockdown validated S4S Technologies’ core work, as more farmers returned home to wait out the lean season and started exploring dehydration equipment.