Rural India with its urgent need for technological inputs, provides a vast market for new agricultural processes and services.

NRDC promotes technologies that are particularly suited to local needs.  Examples include: the agro-waste utilisation paint derived from the latex of Euphorbia plants, the mud block making machine and the use of blue-green algae for nitrogen fixation and farm soil enrichment.  Efforts are being made to reduce the drudgery of women in their daily lives, to provide literacy aids, safe drinking water, low cost housing, sanitation, better agricultural implements and post-harvest technologies, solar pumps , heaters, solar cookers and solar dryers, cement from paddy husk ash and to provide employment by the utilisations of farm wastes.

NRDC has also set up 52 rural technology demonstration cum training centres in various parts of the country to give hands-on training and demonstrations to artisans and technicians living in rural areas.

Some of the NRDC technologies that are appropriate to rural development have also been demonstrated in Africa in Rural Centres.  There is a demand for more of these Centres to be set up.

NRDC has a specific, rural though flexible set of criteria for selecting rural technologies for promotion and dissemination.  The technology chosen should :

• be capable of generating employment, utilising local resources (human and material);
• need low capital investment and result in low cost production of products.
• be marketable, close to the place of manufacture besides having as short a gestation period as possible;
• be capable of replication and should blend harmoniously with existing eco-systems;
• be capable of upgrading and enhancing traditional skills and capabilities.
• minimise fatigue and reduce drudgery;
• be innovative in character and be capable of easy assimilation.

Development  and Promotion of Rural and Household  Technology

Rural India with its urgent need for technological inputs, provides  a vast market for new agricultural processes and services.  NRDC promotes technologies that are particularly suited to their local needs.  With this end in view, NRDC undertakes several activities like development of technologies appropriate for the rural masses, setting up of Rural Technolgy Demonstration-cum-Training (RTDT), Centres, etc.

 The Programme aims at the application of S&T for improving the standard of living of our rural people by employment potential through the development and application of appropriate rural technologies utilising local resources.

So far NRDC opened the 57 RTDT Centres in almost all the states of India. The significant are  at Kundrakudi in Tamil Nadu, Unna in Himachal Pradesh, Ranikhet in Uttranchal, Ashok Sansthan in Uttar Pradesh, one in Udaipur (Rajasthan) etc.

NRDCs Rice Husk Particle Board Technology was also useful for the 200 houses as shelter to the affected in earthquake in Gujarat. NRDC also commercialises  the Biodegradable technology in view of the curbing pollution in the states with the polybags. Also commercialising the Flyash Bricks technology utilising the waste flyash from the Power stations.

The Corporation also encourages the development and diffusion of environment friendly technologies – helping the rural masses with the opening of RTDT centers for training / employment generation with the help of appropriate technologies.  

NRDC also helps the individual who are in the mindset of innovative ideas. To recognize the need to motivate individual inventor and promote inventive activities , NRDC support to the inventors. The individual has been found the a highly valuable source of innovative activities all over the world and considerable support and recognition is being provided in the developed countries to encourage activities undertaken  at individual levels.

NRDC provides assistance to inventors for commercial exploitation of their inventions; Providing Financial assistance for making prototypes and taking other measures for demonstrating the practical use of such technically novel, feasible and commercially viable ideas;

Giving guidance and financial assistance to inventors for taking out patents on their inventions  wherever such patenting is possible.

Helping the interested entrepreneurs to set up the industry for employment generation and commercial exploitation of the new development by way of invention.