A young South African researcher has developed an innovative biodegradable material made from agricultural waste, offering farmers a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Onndinadaho Rasilwela, a chemical-engineering researcher at Tshwane University of Technology, created the product using materials including sugarcane bagasse and maize stalks that might otherwise be discarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Known as \u201cBiomulchies,\u201d the material is designed for use as agricultural mulch. Farmers use mulch to control weeds, retain moisture and regulate soil temperature around their crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike conventional plastic mulch, which can remain in farmland and contribute to long-term pollution, Biomulchies is designed to break down naturally in the soil after use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rasilwela\u2019s innovation won first prize at the 2026 Green Youth Indaba in South Africa. She received R150,000 to support the project and help move the idea closer to wider use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her achievement demonstrates how young African innovators can transform agricultural waste into useful products while supporting farmers, protecting soil and creating opportunities within the green economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Tshwane University of Technology https:\/\/www.tut.ac.za\/newsroom\/all-news\/2026\/tut-student-innovator-turns-agricultural-waste-into-award-winning-biomulchies.php<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A young South African researcher has developed an innovative biodegradable material made from agricultural waste, offering farmers a more environmentally friendly alternative to conventional plastic. Onndinadaho Rasilwela, a chemical-engineering researcher at Tshwane University of Technology, created the product using materials including sugarcane bagasse and maize stalks that might otherwise be discarded. Known as \u201cBiomulchies,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":78,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation","category-positive-african-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions\/79"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myhappyafrica.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}