Sidwin: Revolutionizing Crop Protection Through Use of Nonwoven Fabrics

By Arun Rao

ndia-based Sidwin Fabrics forayed into the production of nonwoven fabrics in 2013.

As farmers, they not only sold fabrics to various segments but also explored the opportunity of using nonwoven fabrics in crop protection, potentially becoming the first Indian company to do so.

Plants and crops are covered with nonwoven fabrics to shield them from the adverse effects of climate change, pests, and animals, ensuring enhanced agricultural productivity. They aid in increasing crop yields, and therefore, farmers harvest around 99% of the crop, as opposed to 80% previously.

Additionally, crop quality is enhanced, enabling farmers to receive a higher price due to the use of these crop covers. Combining all these factors, farmer incomes have also increased by an average of 2025%. Nonwoven fabrics are a low-cost alternative for greenhouses, making them affordable for even small-scale landholding farmers.

Acceptance of crop protection fabrics has now reached 20-25% of agricultural land in India. However, in some states, the use may have even reached up to 30%.