What if a village could access modern agricultural technologies, scientific knowledge, and livelihood opportunities – all through a single community-led centre ?
That vision has now become a reality with the inauguration of the RuTAGe Smart Village Centres (RSVCs) at Beerpur PACS, Jagtial District, and Nandanam FSCS, Hanumakonda District, Telangana, strengthening access to innovative technologies and sustainable livelihood opportunities for rural communities. We are proud to be part of this significant step towards technology-led rural development in Telangana, the first state in the country to establish these technologies within village communities.
The programme was virtually inaugurated by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, in the presence of Shri Shaji K. V., Chairman, NABARD; Shri K. R. Nagaraju, MLA, Wardhannapeta Assembly Constituency; Shri Marneni Ravinder Rao, Chairman, Nandanam FSCS; Shri Ramachandra Rao, Chairman, Beerpur PACS; along with senior officials from NABARD, Cornell Sathguru Foundation for Development (CSFD), Government of Telangana, District Central Cooperative Banks, and other distinguished stakeholders. The event marked the inauguration of the Rural Service Centre for Value Addition (RSCV) Centre at Nandanam Mandal for the Nandanam PACS.
Ms. Hemalatha Vijayaraghavan, Director, Cornell Sathguru Foundation for Development (CSFD), participated in the inauguration, reaffirming CSFD’s commitment to enabling sustainable rural development through technology, innovation, and partnerships.
CSFD is proud to be associated in this project as Technology and Implementation Partner for the RSVC initiative in Jagtial and Hanumakonda districts. Our role extended beyond introducing technologies – we worked closely with local institutions and farming communities, to understand their needs, identify suitable technology solutions, facilitate their deployment, and provide continuous mentoring and technical handholding to ensure long-term sustainability, successful adoption, while creating additional livelihood opportunities.
The Beerpur and Nandanam PACS RSVC centres has been established as a rural technology hub equipped with technologies including agri drones, soil testing devices, smart irrigation systems, value-addition machinery such as poha, puffed rice and cold-pressed oil units, Happy Seeder, Solar Sky Tubes, and Subjee Coolers. Following a comprehensive assessment of local needs, CSFD recommended these technologies to address region-specific agricultural challenges, enhance farm productivity, and create sustainable opportunities for income generation and rural entrepreneurship.
These technologies are expected to transform rural communities by:
- Providing farmers with access to modern and affordable technologies.
- Enabling PACS to evolve into vibrant rural technology and service hubs.
- Creating additional revenue streams for cooperative societies through technology-based services.
- Promoting value addition, reducing post-harvest losses, and improving farm profitability.
- Generating skilled employment opportunities for rural youth through drone services, machinery operations, and enterprise management.
- Making scientific knowledge and innovative solutions accessible to villages at the grassroots level.
Together, these two Smart Village Centres will serve 20 villages, cover more than 18,000 hectares of cultivated land, and benefit over 5,000 farmers and cooperative members, contributing to a more resilient, productive, and technology-enabled rural economy.
At CSFD, we believe that the true value of innovation lies not only in developing technology, but in bringing it closer to the people who need it most and creating meaningful impact at the last mile. Through strong partnerships with NABARD, PACS, research institutions, and local communities, we remain committed to empowering farmers and rural institutions with practical, sustainable, and scalable technological solutions.
Transforming Rural Lives through Technology • Innovation • Partnerships
