In this Friday, May 25, 2012, photo Prof. Anil Gupta, right, gives a certificate to Ghanshyam Lal, an innovator, during his visit for the Shodh Yatra (Journey for the Search of Knowledge) in the village of Dabati in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Gupta and his aides have uncovered more than 25,000 inventions.  — AP Photo

SEHORE, INDIA: Indian professor Anil Gupta has spent decades scouring the Indian countryside searching for unsung inventors in rural villages.

He works in the belief that the most powerful ideas for relieving poverty and hardship in the country won't come from corporate research labs but from those struggling to survive. He has documented 25,000 innovations from the bicycle-mounted crop sprayer to the bulletproof vest made of herbs. Here's a look at some other innovations he's found:

In this undated photo provided by the National Innovation Foundation, Nattubhai Vader stands next to a machine called Cotton Harvester, which he invented in India. Vader, a farmer from the state of Gujarat, invented the apparatus that fits over a tractor after watching women and children performing the slow grueling work of harvesting an especially troublesome variety of cotton. — AP Photo

COTTON HARVESTER: Nattubhai Vader, a farmer from the state of Gujarat, invented a special cotton harvester that fits over a tractor after watching women and children performing the slow grueling work of harvesting an especially troublesome variety of cotton.

In this undated photo provided by the National Innovation Foundation, late farmer M.J. Joseph, also known as Appachan, from Kerala, India demonstrates his invention called the Tree Climbing Machine. — AP Photo

COCONUT PLUCKER: The late farmer M.J. Joseph, also known as Appachan, had only a fourth grade education but was still able to create a device for climbing coconut trees to harvest the fruit.

In this undated photo provided by the National Innovation Foundation, Chourasiya demonstrates a pair of wearable floats called Water Walking Shoes he invented in India. Prasad had heard about a fraudster holy man who claimed he could walk on water. Intrigued, he decided to design special water walking shoes that would allow the wearer to walk or skate across a lake. — AP Photo

WATER WALKERS: Dwarka Prasad had heard about a fraudster holy man who claimed he could walk on water. Intrigued, he decided to design special water walking shoes that would allow the wearer to walk or skate across a lake.

A woman wearing a traditional Indian dance mask representing a conquistador attends the popular celebration known as “El Cartel,” in honor of patron Saint Anne, in Nandaime, Nicaragua, Saturday, July 28, 2012. According to El Cartel tradition, males dress as a women and females dress as a men, in a payment for a favor received from Saint Anne, whose feast day is on July 26. — AP Photo

PERPETUAL PAINTBRUSH: Jahangir Ahmad devised an electric paintbrush that pumps paint from a hose directly to the brush and never needs to be dipped into a can.

In this Saturday, May 26, 2012 photo, Dharamveer Kamboj, left, an innovator, explains his aloe vera processor invention in a temple in the village of Lasukiya in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India. The tabletop machine can cheaply make aloe vera gel from aloe leaves. — AP Photo

ALOE VERAGEL MAKER: Dharamveer Kamboj made a tabletop machine that can cheaply make aloe vera gel from aloe leaves.

In this Friday, May 25, 2012 photo, Prof. Anil Gupta walks towards a village during his Shodh Yatra (Journey for the Search of Knowledge) in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India.  — AP Photo

WATER TIRES: Farmers in the state of Madhya Pradesh brushed aside tractor salesmen who were trying to sell them expensive weights to help their tractors work the thick, hard soil there. Instead, they filled the tires with water, making the tractors heavier for a minimal cost.

In this undated photo provided by the National Innovation Foundation, Remya Jose from Kerala, India demonstrates the pedal-powered washing machine she invented. Jose was forced to do laundry by hand when her mother became sick because her family had no washing machine. So she invented a washing machine/exercise bike that is cheap to make and requires no electricity. — AP Photo

LEG-POWERED WASHING MACHINE: High school student Remya Jose was forced to do laundry by hand when her mother got sick because her family had no washing machine. So she invented a washing machine/exercise bike that is cheap to make and requires no electricity.

In this Thursday, May 24, 2012 photo, inventor Amrit Agrawat, center right, stands by his assistant demonstrating his pulley with a braking mechanism in the village of Nayapura in the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Agrawat wanted to help the women in his village who were struggling to pull heavy water buckets from a well so he made a pulley with a brake to let the women rest midway through their labor. — AP Photo

WELL PULLEY: Amrit Agrawat wanted to help the women in his village who were struggling to pull heavy water buckets from a well so he made a pulley with a brake to let the women rest midway through their labor.