Turning crop waste to fertilizer could fight air pollution in India

The burning stubble generates copious amounts of smoke across the states of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the Indian capital of New Delhi. Multiple attempts by the government each year to reduce stubble burning by providing alternate solutions to the farmers have largely failed. Vidyut Mohan, a 30-year-old entrepreneur, may have a solution that would help reduce some of the air pollution and generate revenue for locals. Mohan’s company, Takachar, has developed technology that converts waste biomass into fertilizer. Takachar was created to combat climate change by generating marketable products from waste biomass. One of its aims is to increase the net income of rural communities by 40%. For now, Mohan is fielding interest from private companies as well as the Indian government, which has been looking for sustainable and cost-effective solutions to combat the increasing menace of air pollution. “By 2030, we want to impact 30 million farmers worldwide directly or indirectly and sell close to 200,000 systems, processing 120 million tons of agricultural and forest waste annually,” said Mohan.