Ashok Thakur observed that a large amount of paddy husk was discarded as agricultural waste in his area. As a professional fabricator of coal and wood husk stoves, he fabricated an efficient stove that can use paddy husk as fuel. He experimented with the common stove and suitably modified it for paddy husk.
The stove consists of a frustum made up of an iron sheet of thickness 22 gauge and has a lot of holes of sizes 6 mm in a zigzag manner on the downward side. It weighs 4 kg and has a height of 8 inches. It is designed so that it can use paddy husk as fuel. It can be used anywhere as it is a portable stove. IIT GUWAHATI and TERI University, New Delhi, have tested it. Good reports stated that the stove has a fuel combustion rate of 4.67%, and the thermal efficiency is 23% in the cold and hot start and 32% during simmering. The innovator claims this stove can safely be used on a boat to cook food.
It is a very good innovation for the regions where paddy is abundant. The innovation was appreciated and awarded at the 7th National grassroots innovation awards 2013