Delhi and surrounding areas face severe air pollution every year, especially during winter, due to stubble burning. Seeing this year after year, two entrepreneurs from Haryana have decided to turn that paddy straw into a business.
Anand Bodh and Arpit Dhupar, who studied engineering at IIT, have developed a way to turn paddy straw, commonly known as parali, into packaging material that works like thermocol but decomposes naturally in about 60 days. The business reportedly generates an annual turnover of around Rs 2.5 crore.
How was Dharaksha Ecosolutions founded?
The IIT graduates started working together on projects more than 13 years ago. They later decided to use their skills to find a solution to one of India's major environmental problems, which is the burning of crop residue.
Farmers also face the challenge of disposing of the leftover straw in a way that is both affordable and practical. Bodh and Dhupar saw an opportunity to use this waste as a raw material.
The two entrepreneurs founded Dharaksha Ecosolutions in 2020 to turn paddy stubble into biodegradable packaging. The name Dharaksha comes from two Hindi words: 'Dhara', meaning earth, and 'Raksha', meaning protection.
The company uses mycelium, the root-like network of a mushroom, to convert paddy straw into packaging material.
"We want to eliminate the sources of pollution and replace them with sustainable alternatives. Access to clean air should be everyone's right, not the privilege of the rich," Dhupar told YourStory.
In the 2023 report, Dhupar said the company had collected around 750 tonnes of straw during the previous season from more than 250 acres of land.
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Here's how it works
The process starts with collecting paddy straw from farmers in Punjab and Haryana. The company works with aggregators who collect and compress the straw into bales.
The collected material is then chopped, steamed and processed. The mushroom mycelium is introduced to the prepared straw which allows it to grow through the material and form a solid structure. The process can take up to 10 days, according to the YourStory report.
Dharaksha has also developed its own mushroom strain for this process. Dhupar told YourStory that commercially available mushroom strains did not have the qualities required to make its packaging material.
"These materials are made from nature, which is at the core of what we do. We don't manufacture our products, we grow them," he added.
The finished product can be shaped according to the size and design of the item it needs to protect.
Dharaksha's packaging decomposes in around 60 days under normal soil conditions, according to the company. The material also has a reported shelf life of more than three years.
The company makes packaging for products that need protection inside cardboard boxes during transportation. Its material is designed to resist moisture and heat and has fire-retardant and anti-static properties, according to the company.
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"We are procuring the stubble from districts in Punjab and Haryana within a 200 km radius. Basically, our efforts are to procure from the epicentres where crop burning is most prevalent. Last year, during the season, we procured around 750 tonnes from over 250 acres of land," Dhupar said.
How much does the packaging cost?
In the 2023 YourStory report, the company said a small, six-inch pot made from the material cost around Rs 30. Packaging for a typical glass jar costs around Rs 10, while larger pieces could cost up to Rs 250.
Bodh and Dhupar initially invested Rs 45 lakh from their personal savings to get the business started, according to YourStory.
The startup later attracted investors, including Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath, former MakeMyTrip executive Anshuman Bapna and investors associated with IIM Bangalore, along with other angel investors.
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