Every episode in Village Story has influenced society in some way, bringing positive changes to both the individuals and to the rural communities. This time, Village TV featured M.P. Hegde, an agriculturist from Magodu Village in Honnavar Taluk, who has succeeded in manufacturing 11 types of homemade soap from castor oil from self-research and with the support of his brother.
Srinivasa Pejathaya, Editor, newskarnataka.com hosted the 17th episode of village TV on July 1.
Programme host Srinivas briefed about M.P. Hegde, proprietor of Rachana Home Industries, and welcomed him.
Sharing about his unique invention of preparing the homemade soaps using castor oil MP Hegde said, In 2016 I had attended a workshop on preparing soaps at the biological unit of JNU Shivamogga. When I returned to my home town I thought of preparing soaps using castor oil. As we have a castor oil unit in Magodu, which every year exports 3000 litre oil to Belgium, which is in fact used for body massage. But when I started to produce soap, the soap was oily and not hard enough for regular use. Even it retained the smell of castor oil. Later, we started adding caustic soda and essential oils in preparation, which improved the quality of the soap. Informing the raw materials used, he said the in the preparation of soap all the natural products like Turmeric, Hibiscus, Lemon, Neem, and Tulsi are used. Moreover, we find these in our home gardens. I use castor oil prepared in Magodu unit. in 2018 we launched “Honne Kanti” soap in the market and received a good response.
Following a good response from users, we today have introduced series of soaps. We manufacture 11 types of soaps that are made of castor oil, coconut oil, and besan and are beneficial for skin and hair.
When he was asked about the self-employment opportunities in the field of soap making he said, he attended the training at Shivamogga along with other members of the KSN NGO. “I also have given training to as many as 80 people about the same. Unfortunately, no one has shown interest to join hands or start soap production on their own,” he added.
Explaining the benefits of using Ayurvedic soaps, a user shared that the soap was very useful to treat pimples, chickenpox, dandruff, hair fall, and also skin-related allergies. An Ayurvedic doctor and user of the soap said he recommends these soaps to his patients. He assured viewers that these soaps are beneficial for skin as well as hair and can be used without any hesitation.
Sharing his journey, Hegde said “starting the production of soaps was purely accidental. Without any financial support from the government or others, I have started it using my own investment. The profit earned by making the soaps is again invested in soap making and this helped us expand our capacity to produce more. We have faced some difficulties too. Two batches of soap production failed due to the use of contaminated oil sent to us. But today we have a good market.”
“We have already sent our products to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Sirsi, Siddapur, Sagar as well as to the neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Hyderabad etc. With the advice of Ayurvedic doctor Gundupalli Laxmi Narayan, we have prepared soaps using Chigare powder and Coccum Resin (Murugalu Tuppa), Besan etc. These soaps are in demand,” he said.
Explaining his future plans he said he will soon launch his new soaps. Rachana Home industries is registered company and has an IIC code, so products can be exported to foreign countries too.
In the end, he requested the audience to support the native businesses by using native products. He is an inspiration to many who aspire to start an initiative in order to become self-reliant and self-dependent.
