Couple develop rubber-based flower pots
The Iyers’ careers as agriculture scientists saw them work closely with farmers. Post-retirement, they have relentlessly channelled their passion for farming for the good of the community as well as the environment.
For Rohini Iyer, 75, and R.D. Iyer, 84, of Thazhava in Karunagappally, there is nothing more fulfilling than harnessing science and technology to promote sustainable and eco-friendly farming methods.
Since their retirement as heads of departments in the Central Plantation Crops Research Institution (CPCRI), Kasaragod, they have focused their efforts on bridging the knowledge gap in sustainable farming. They have been engaged in transferring the technical know-how required for making farming a sustainable enterprise by launching the Navasakti Trust, a non-governmental organisation for community development, in 2007.
Alternative to grow bags
The duo’s quest to identify an eco-friendly alternative to plastic grow bags has resulted in their patented natural rubber-based flower pots. Their invention assumes relevance with the government set to distribute 64 lakh seedlings in plastic grow bags on the occasion of the World Environment Day.
The feasible alternative to plastics was developed by the NGO with technical assistance from the Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam, a year ago. Made using virgin latex and waste rubber particles, which are the byproducts of rubber plantations, these flower pots are touted to be better substitutes to conventional concrete pots that are heavier, breakable and non-biodegradable.
R.D. Iyer, who had been mentored by eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan during his 18-year service with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), pointed out that the excessive dependence on non-biodegradable grow bags and the lack of alternatives had resulted in a massive extent of soil pollution. Nurseries, the largest consumers of grow bags, should be encouraged to shift to biodegradable options, he said.
The 8-inch and 10-inch diameter rubber-based flower pots are being sold at ₹100 and ₹125 respectively. While the cost has deterred many from going for the eco-friendly alternative, the sale has been gradually picking up. The NGO sold around 1,500 pots in a year, Dr. Rohini Iyer said.
After obtaining patent and trademark, the couple are in the process of getting a hologram label for the pots.
The NGO has also been engaged in popularising mushroom cultivation; training women for self-help groups on value-addition of fruits, vegetables and tubers; and imparting knowledge in beekeeping, fresh water fishery, and cattle feed production.
Article Credit: The Hindu