Dr Priyadarshini Karve was born in Pune but spent her childhood in Phaltan, a small town about 100 km from her hometown in Maharashtra. Walking or cycling her way to school and back home, she passed through lush green sugarcane fields, a popular crop in the region.
Besides enjoying the scenic view, she also happened to see the lifecycle of a sugarcane crop from its plantation until the post-harvest waste management. She also witnessed the farmers casually burning the dry leaves and organic waste after the harvest, releasing toxic smoke into the air.
“The dense smoke polluted the air, spread throughout the vicinity and affected the breathing and visibility of villagers and animals,” Dr Priyadarshini says, who always wondered about potential ways to treat the agriculture residue in an eco-friendly way.
In 1991, she returned to Pune to pursue her graduation and post-graduation in Science to further pursue her PhD. During all the years of her education, her quest to find solutions…