Preethi Ramadoss, a research scholar from the Department of Crystal Growth Centre of Anna University, has come up with a biodegradable sanitary napkin that does not have any plastics and can degrade within a month.

“It is made of cellulose derivatives. It has turmeric, vettiver and neem and lemon extracts. It has been tested against common pathogens responsible for bacterial vaginosis in women,” explained the scholar, who has developed this as part of her Ph.D. thesis. The university has applied for a patent for the product.

The materials used in this super-thin, less than 3-mm thick napkin absorbs water up to 1700% of its own weight when tested in CIPET as well the university’s own laboratories.

The raw materials used are naturally occurring polysaccharides and polymers derived from plants, Ms. Ramadoss, who began work in 2015 July, explained.

Napkins and diapers available in the market contain plastics and take a long time to degrade. They contain cellulose pulp that is recycled from waste paper and are bleached with chlorine that emits dioxins. They also contain a hydrophobic covering sheet which is made of polypropylene (plastic derivative) that induces skin rashes in most cases. Apart from this, a lot of wood pulp is also required for non-gel napkins/diapers.

Love for nature

She said she chose to develop such a product because her mother had always chosen home remedies for her. “She created a love for nature and environment in me and when I got this opportunity, I chose to develop something that would be useful for women and not harm nature,” she explained.

D. Arivuoli Dakshinamoothy, her Ph.D. guide said the project had funding from the Department of Science and Technology for women scientists.

As part of her Ph.D., Ms. Ramadoss has also made a biodegradable water purification electro-dialysis membrane for desalination and is working on a disposable biodegradable glucose biosensor for diabetic patients.

Prof. Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University has mooted a win-win proposal to bailout debt-ridden ryots on the one hand and protect the financial health of banks as political parties vie with one another in announcing farm debt waiver in several States with elections round the corner

“Setting up of debt relief commission is the way out to study each case of debt-ridden farmer case by case and provide appropriate relief to ryots concerned with genuine debt problem and at the same time ensure that banks are not overburdened with unbearable bad loans,” said Prof. Jayati Ghosh, who had went deep into the causes of debt-ridden farmers taking the extreme step of ending their lives in the united Andhra Pradesh.

“This would silence the critics of debt waiver scheme raising a hue and cry over the economic burden associated with periodic loan waiver on the financial health of banks,” she said here on Sunday while taking note of moral hazard associated with recurring loan waiver resulting in slippages in existing loan repayments by farmers in anticipation of write-offs.

Monthly pension

Setting the farmers agenda ahead of polls for a fair deal to ryots caught in a debt trap at a seminar organised by the CPI(M)-led All India Kisan Sabha here, she said the Centre should provide each farmer crossing the age of 60 years a monthly pension of at least ₹4,000 to ensure minimum social security in the evening of their lives.

She suggested imposition of 1% wealth tax and 20% inheritance tax to address the deep-rooted agriculture crisis and bailout the debt-ridden farmers who also took loans for health and education expenses.

Backing the demand for adding 50% of cost of production which included cost of capital and the rent on the land mooted by noted agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan, she, felt any big a hike would not have meaning when public procurement agencies left farmers to fend for themselves against hostile market forces.

She said that cash transfer to farmers in lieu of farm subsidies was not the best solution as this would benefit only a minuscule section of farmers with clear land title leaving in the lurch tenant farmers who accounted for a majority of growers at the grass-roots level.

A positive change for the better since she came out with a voluminous report was the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme(MG-NREGS), she said and wanted the wage employment scheme to produce organic fertilizers and pesticides for the benefit of farmers. The self-styled cow protectors, did a disservice to the cause of farmers, especially in drought-prone areas, by destroying the livestock economy, she said.

It was a double blow for farmers as the unfriendly exim policy allowed import of cheaper farm produce from abroad and disallowed export of farm produce with higher price overseas.