The  topic for doctoral research is “Omics Logic Based Precision Approach to produce Biofertilizers through Biodegradation of Sustainable and Conventional Polymers: An Efficacy Analysis Study in Soil”.

 The project is being duly supervised by Prof. Sreedeep S. and Prof. Vimal Katiyar.

A holistic strategy is needed for plastic waste management, ensuring not only technical feasibility but also economic sustainability for a future, resilient to climate change and environmental degradation. Strategies are required to be improvised to add value to the polymer products at the end of their life-cycle without damaging the homeostasis of the ecosystem.

The objective of this project has therfore been to explore the efficacy of transforming plastics (conventional and bioplastics) as biofertilizer. The study aims to use cutting edge computational analytical tools on sequenced metagenome and transcriptome for creating new consortia or exploiting existing microbial community for enhancing rates of plastic degradation while trying to create a potent fertilizer product, tried and tested in crop-growing soil.