Who doesn’t like life to be colourful? The world around is filled with a vast array of beautiful colours, each in different hues, evoking a sense of bewilderment in us all. Be it clothing, festivals, or any other celebration, colour is undeniably a very important element. But sometimes, artificial colours can be harmful for our health. Fear not, for there is a solution — a natural one — right here in the city. The Natural Dye Processing and Incubation Centre (NDPIC) at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) has been extracting natural colours for textiles, surfaces, idols, and now, natural Holi colours.
Beginnings
“From 2008 to 2013, the Department of Handlooms and Textiles worked on a project that was funded by the World Bank. The idea of this project? To create a value chain of natural dyes,” said Dr Lakshmi Pooja, assistant professor. The dean of Community Science, Dr V Vijay Lakshmi, approached Telangana State Pollution Control Board in 2016 to establish a unit, for which the Board disbursed `1 crore. The unit now serves as the commercial production base and an incubation centre.
Dr Lakshmi Pooja added, “The incubation centre is for researchers, students, and women groups who want to start an enterprise. We also have training programmes here.”
NDPIC started off by producing textile colours, and then diversified their colour production, creating a range of shades for surfaces, festivals, and celebrations.
The process
Dr Lakshmi Pooja explained that an eco-friendly method is used to produce these dyes. While natural colours are of three types — animal, plant, and mineral-based — NDPIC uses only the last two. “We collect natural elements, grade them, and store them. We boil them, take the extracts and make different concentrations, and maintain PH levels,” she shared.
While the modiga tree leaves don’t give colours, the flowers and gum of the tree do the trick.
How do they procure these plant-based sources? One source is the Annatto seed, whose plants farmers cultivate on a large scale in Andhra Pradesh. “It is a maintenance fee crop so it grows well, though it comes only once in a year,” said Dr Lakshmi Pooja, adding that another source is the marigold flower, which is a commercial crop. “During the off-season, farmers do not know what to do with them. We collect the used flowers, dry them, and use them to produce colour,” she shared.
NDPIC also sources eucalyptus barks from NGOs, women’s groups, and ayurvedic stores. Limestone is the main mineral source, used for filler material while making paints.
And what a beautiful range of shades are born — from Annatto a rich orange colour, from marigold a pleasant yellow, from indigo a regal blue, from pomegranate peels an olive green, and from sappanwood, a lovely pink, red, and purple. So there you have it — biodegradable colours which can be used on textiles, festivals, and other celebrations. Great for the skin and easier to wash off too!
Dr Lakshmi Pooja stated that people generally feel that natural colours quickly become dull. “This notion is wrong — we developed 1,200 shades to test this and address other parameters as well. Based on these tests, 25 types of colours were chosen for cotton. We also used sustainable fibres such as banana fibre, nettle fibre, and sisal fibre on silk too. Acceptable and eco-friendly,” she said.
Holi colours
For NDPIC, powder was the way to go when it came to making Holi colours. They offer orange, blue, yellow, green, and pink. “We did not create liquid colours and bottle it because people throw the bottles away after using them. We were concerned about air pollution; if the material blown is lightweight, it will travel a longer distance and pollute more. So, our colours have a starch base, which makes the particles heavier, thereby reducing pollution,” explained Dr Lakshmi Pooja.
She revealed that they get bulk orders every year, and sell 100g, 250g, and 500g packs as well. “We have an outlet in a college campus at Lakdikapul. Anyone can walk through the college or university and buy these colours. By March 14, everything will be sold out.”