In 1987, Mangal Singh, a marginal farmer, invented a turbine that could lift water from a stream flowing through his village, Bhailonilodh in the Lalitpur district of Uttar Pradesh. Through a network of pipes the water was directed to farmers’ fields ensuring they could irrigate their crops if the rains didn’t turn up. Mangal Singh’s turbine is an amazing invention because it doesn’t need a drop of diesel or a spark of electricity to run unlike conventional lift irrigation systems that depend on diesel pump sets.Mangal Singh isn’t. . .