The Tiruchi-based entrepreneur makes biodegradable coconut pots to promote eco-friendly gardening material

R. Madhana seen with biodegradable pots made from treated coconut dust at Saini Eco Products and Exports unit in Srirangam. | Photo credit: NAHLA NAINAR

For three years, R. Madhana has been reaching out to women self-help groups to educate them about the commercial potential of flower pots made from coconut dust, a waste product obtained from the fibrous mesocarp (middle layer) of the coconut shell. She is now trying to give local businesswomen the opportunity to get involved in this activity full-time.

Using a hot-press stamping machine installed at a demonstration plant in Srirangam, Ms. Madhana's company, Saini Eco Products and Exports, makes six- and eight-inch plant pots as well as smaller “root trainers” that can replace plastics in gardening and farming operations.

“Coconut dust used to be thrown away or burned by farmers. Few people are aware of the value-added products that can be created with it. “These pots are completely biodegradable and since the material is naturally absorbent, water consumption when gardening can be reduced,” said the entrepreneur The Hindu.

Ms. Madhana maintains a training workshop in Srirangam and a manufacturing unit in Aranthangi for customer orders. The coconut fiber is sourced from farmers in and around Aranthangi, while the natural latex needed to bind the mats comes from Kerala.

“I am trying to help more women join this sector in our district,” said Ms. Madhana. As a pilot project, she partnered with producers in surrounding towns to buy back the coconut pots made with her machine.

Ms. Madhana, a former teacher, learned about her family's coconut farming and trading in Karur at an early age and studied the coconut value addition process for over two years by visiting various units in Pollachi district.

“I realized that in order to keep costs down, I would have to downsize the existing machines and raw materials based on our needs,” she said. Ms. Madhana has designed the ₹3.5 lakh hot press punching machine installed in Srirangam that cuts coir mats into pots. Using a hand spray gun, workers treat the coconut fiber with a latex mixture, creating mats that can be shaped in the heat press cutter. “This is an affordable alternative to the felting machine that gives a similar result,” said Ms. Madhana.

The pots cost around ₹15 to make and can retail for up to ₹30. “In some big brand stores in Tiruchi, coconut pots are being sold for over ₹250. I am happy that our products help protect the environment by reducing plastic consumption,” she added.