Paddy Straw to Biodegradable Products

The team of IIT Delhi graduates develops a processing technology that converts crop residue (agro-waste) into pulp, which can further use in the manufacturing of cups, tableware, plates and papers and generates revenue which can solve the problem of farmers.

India is an agriculture-oriented country where approx. 70% of the population is engaged in the agriculture sector. When this percentage of the population works in a sector then the waste generates from that will be huge. Although much agricultural waste is settled in different ways in agricultural activities there is some waste that is not managed properly like crop residues.

Image: Wikimedia

Areas like Punjab and Haryana where more intensive farming is done has a major issue with the Paddy Straw (Crop residue). Paddy Straw contains a high amount of silica content which animals are not able to digest otherwise farmers can utilize the paddy Straw in animal fodder like the way they use a wheat straw. Due to the less gap between the seasonal crops, they burn the stubbles in their farms only, which creates air pollution in nearby areas, and one of the most affected cities by this is the capital of India. Every year, Delhi faces the pollution caused by the burning of stubbles. Although the government had implemented restrictions and introduced fine on the burning of stubble, farmers do that because it is more cost-effective for them. To tackle the problem created by the burning of crop residue, some IIT Delhi graduates came up with a plan.

Image: Wikimedia

Kriya Labs, a startup that is incubated in IIT Delhi had developed this processing unit and it can work on a small scale as well as on large scale. The lab developed the process by which they are able to segregate the silica content and lignin (organic polymer) of the paddy straw. In this process, natural

biodegradable chemicals are used. Once the pulp is formed it can be dried and mold in different shapes, it is estimated that from 1 tonne of stubble 500 kg of the pulp can be produced and can be sold at a price of Rs. 40-45 per kg. This can help farmers to generate extra income from waste at Rs. 2-3 per kg. All the units of this process are decentralized and it costs around Rs. 30-35 Lakh to set up a processing unit. It can process around 2 tonnes of stubble in a day. Kriya Labs is connecting with farmers of the nearby areas and explaining their process.

The process is completely an integrated technological process and uses all organic biodegradable chemicals for processing. In this way, on the one side, the startup is helping in reducing the burning of stubble, and on the other hand, they are giving incentives to farmers for giving their stubble. The technology can empower rural India, as they will be getting money for their so-called waste as well as farmers will be able to know the importance of their agricultural waste.