by Shazia Yousuf
SRINAGAR: When most boys their age were busy playing cricket in the neighbourhood, twin brothers Refaz Ahmad Wani and Ishfaq Ahmad Wani were spending their afternoons in the attic of their modest home in south Kashmir, assembling a working JCB machine from scrap metal. They were in Class V at the time. Years later, that same curiosity and ingenuity would earn them the title of Creative Twins from former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam.
Today, the brothers from Wandewalgam village in Anantnag district run Wani Farming Tools Industry, an ISO-certified manufacturing unit producing agricultural tools and training farmers in scientific farming practices. Their journey from a rooftop storeroom to a formal enterprise, however, was neither quick nor easy. It took years of persistence, nearly five hundred documented ideas, and finally, timely institutional support.
Refaz and Ishfaq grew up watching their father struggle to support a joint family through manual labour, working at a fruit mandi in Jammu. A significant part of his modest income went towards rent, leaving little room for security or savings. Determined to become self-reliant, the brothers began experimenting with ideas using whatever materials they could find. The small rooftop storeroom of their house gradually transformed into a makeshift workshop, which they named the Twin Brothers Innovation Club.
It was in this cramped space that many of their practical innovations took shape. Over the years, they designed a foldable water bottle, a dual-purpose hoe that also functions as a shovel, an easy apple catcher to prevent falls during harvesting, and several locally adapted spades, hooks, and weeders aimed at easing farm labour. Since 2008, the twins have recorded close to five hundred ideas in a diary and developed thirty-six working innovations.
Recognition came early, but financial backing did not. In 2011, the National Innovation Foundation invited them to the All India Ignite Competition at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, where they were honoured by APJ Abdul Kalam. Over time, they came to be known locally as the Wright Brothers of Anantnag. Yet, without access to capital and machinery, their ideas remained largely confined to prototypes and small batches.
The turning point came in 2023, when the brothers responded to a social media advertisement for CHINAR International’s Small Business Support programme under its Youth Development initiative. Selected for Cohort IV, they were able to formally establish Wani Farming Tools Industry. With financial assistance, essential machinery such as cutting and bending machines was procured from Gujarat, enabling the brothers to move into mass production.
“Without CHINAR’s financial support and guidance, we would not be here,” Refaz says, crediting the organisation’s training in marketing, B2B and B2C operations, and accounting for helping them scale their enterprise and reach new markets.
According to Zaffar Iqbal, Senior Project Coordinator at CHINAR International, the intervention was well-timed. He says the brothers had the innovation and demand but lacked production capacity. What distinguishes them, he adds, is their approach of not merely selling tools but also conducting demonstrations and guiding farmers on adopting scientific agricultural practices.
Their work has continued to draw recognition. In 2021, they won a Gold Medal at the 6th Istanbul International Invention Fair. More recently, they received the Best Agri Startup Award from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at a ceremony held at the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora.
As their enterprise grows, Wani Farming Tools Industry now employs four additional people. Yet, the original Twin Brothers Innovation Club remains unchanged. The brothers plan to keep it open as a community space where local children can experiment, exchange ideas, and learn that innovation does not depend on privilege, but on persistence, curiosity, and the right support at the right time.
