Interesting use of biodegradable wheat stubble
By vanny
@vandana7 (98827)
India
March 24, 2021 2:12am CST
Background:
Punjab in India has wheat farms, and farmers tend to burn the stubble they cannot collect. That results in air pollution leading to breathing problems in India's capital as the winds carry the pollutants. CO2 is also harmful.
Burning also generates heat which adversely affects snow covered regions in the surroundings.
Uses:
I found this interesting though India is importing similar stuff made from rice straw from Thailand to make plates that serve same as Thermocol.
Lack of awareness
Yes, many don't know thermocol is polymer and replaceable with such biogradegradable material. It would be nice to use pots and cups and plates and glasses which are biodegradable instead of the plastic stuff.
Cheaper too, not to mention environmental benefits.
What is needed:
Something like epilator that draws away the remaining stubble on the farms. So yeah, we have the technology alright. We don't have the larger and powerful version of it. Sorry for embarrassing comparison.
Any positive thoughts that come to your mind of late?
A young startup formed by IIT Delhi students have found a novel way to take care of paddy stubble. Paddy stubble is burnt every year by farmers from states b...
11 people like this
9 responses
@Bhaskarjhborah (735)
• India
24 Mar 21
This is a very good thing. In our place, we either burn the rice straw or leave it in the field to degrade. And the part which is brought home with rice is dried and given to the cow to eat.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (98827)
• India
24 Mar 21
Oh it is gold. If what is mentioned on YouTube is true. Labor intensive but it will employ people even after harvest.
Project Report on Tableware And Food Containers From Rice StrawThe main components of paper are cellulose and hemicellulose. The plant fibers for paper-makin...
1 person likes this
@Bhaskarjhborah (735)
• India
24 Mar 21
@vandana7 You are right, we did not consider this thing to be of any use. But if this project is successful then it will be very good for all the farmers.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
24 Mar 21
Here, wheat stubble is usually burned to get the fields ready to be planted again. Wheat stubble can take 1 1/2 months to decompose in the ground so it is faster and cheaper to simply burn it off after crops are harvested. BUT, there is a federal law against the smoke from burning such stubble going across state and federal highways. The farmer must wait until a windless day to burn the stubble or face fines if the smoke obscures the vision of drivers on the highways.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (98827)
• India
24 Mar 21
Aw... how predictable are your winds. LOL
Kidding. But I am wondering if it is possible to tweeze or pluck out the remaining stubble from the ground effectively ploughing it to an extent, with an equipment that would work quite like our epilators. Then they can be converted into one use cups and plates and glasses like the ones we have from thermocol.
You need to see this ..
Project Report on Tableware And Food Containers From Rice StrawThe main components of paper are cellulose and hemicellulose. The plant fibers for paper-makin...
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
24 Mar 21
@vandana7 Read this...
Farmers find the traditional way of stubble-burning to be easier, low cost and time-efficient, compared to alternatives that demand more time, investment and labour.
1 person likes this
@Sreekala (34312)
• India
24 Mar 21
I have no idea about this. But I am also a sufferer of the burning stubble. Farmers also don't have any other option but to make their land fertile after the harvest. I think they are not harvesting at the right time. I mean, if they harvest when there is not much wind around the burn the stubbles it won't affect the neighbouring states dangerously.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (98827)
• India
24 Mar 21
@Sreekala Now we have better technologies and more knowledge. So yeah..it would seem we can do things better, and we should. If necessary, we need to improve technologies or use the existing technologies elsewhere in plucking out those stubbles.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (98827)
• India
24 Mar 21
Burning stubble traditional way will no longer do. Back then, we were not that large population. So so much crop was not needed, nor did we almost touch the villages around our cities.
I think a systematic insertion of seeds to prevent wastage, and in precise spaces such that some machine with right configuration can pull it out like epilators will prevent the need to burn at all.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156157)
• United States
24 Mar 21
Anything that is not plastic is a blessing. Plastic pollution has become a major problem in our world.
1 person likes this
