Neither market your stubble nor go it from the floor except if you require it for thatching, goes the indicating. Burning it is not at all an solution, as opposed to in farm lands in North-West India, fraught as it is with the menace of months-long air pollution even as however an additional Kharif harvest period dawns on the horizon.
So, it was just as very well that a crew of experts at the CSIR-Nationwide Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technological know-how (NIIST) really should establish technological innovation for converting ‘agro residues into biodegradable goods as an different to single-use plastics.’ The crew comprised foods technologists, chemical engineers, polymer experts and business enterprise enhancement professionals.
Profitable NIIST crew
It went on to get the CSIR-Rural Technological know-how Award-2020 at the fingers of Vice President M Venkiah Naidu at a digital occasion in New Delhi coinciding with the 80th Basis Working day of CSIR. Associates of the crew led by Dr Anjineyulu Kothakota involve Venkatesh T, Dr Saju Pillai, Dr Sushant Sahoo, Dr Partha Kuntu, Praveen Raj and M Brahmakumar.
Dr A Ajayaghosh, Director, advised BusinessLine that NIIST experts have proven that plates, cutlery and cups can be made from agro-waste and byproducts these types of as wheat bran, rice husk, corn husk, sugarcane bagasse, fruit peel, banana stem and pineapple leaves. These environment-pleasant goods are economical, have a long shelf daily life and are resistant to fungus and germs.
Technological know-how transferred
Anjineyulu Kothakota said that the award-profitable technological innovation has currently been transferred to two Kerala-centered firms, Aura Exim, Ernakulam, and Marikar Green Earth, Thiruvananthapuram.
Aura Exim, to whom the technological innovation for converting wheat bran was transferred, has currently began commercial output. Marikar Green Earth will system both of those rice husk and rice bran.
T Venkatesh, scientist, engineer and crew member, is tasked with coordinating feasibility reports and scale-up of the processes on a large scale. When asked about the applicability of the technological innovation to stubble burning, he said, “Certainly, of course. We have productively demonstrated tests with a vast vary of agro residues which incorporates rice/wheat straw, wheat husk and brans.”
Cellulosic content material
Just about all agro residues are wealthy in cellulosic content material, suggests Kothakota. “We have formulated regular running situations and system protocols to change agro wastes into handy biodegradable tableware. We have currently acquired 22 enquiries from distinctive states.”
Talks are going on with ITC and an additional enterprise in Himachal. As of now, non-disclosure agreements have been signed with the two. A DPR has been submitted in Kerala on behalf of the Vazhakkulam Agro and Fruit Processing Firm located in the state’s pineapple belt.
Very long shelf daily life
“The system is dry, consumes a great deal significantly less drinking water and electrical power in contrast to traditional processes. Products and solutions generated are shelf-stable up to 6 months, warmth-resistant up to a hundred Levels Celsius, clearly show fantastic bacterial resistance, and are a hundred for every cent biodegradable,” suggests Kothakota.
Venkatesh suggests that the system is developed so that a vast vary of agro residues can be processed in the identical established of device operations and devices, thus earning it really sustainable and cost-effective. Production capacity can vary from fifty kg for every day of processing, extendable to a person tonne.
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