MGEcoduties (MGE) goes TATA

“We have been visited by at least five vice presidents of various TATA companies,” says Margarita, the Colombian-born chemical engineer who together with Italian-born Guidelma started MGEcoduties (MGE) in 2011. “And they always tell me the story about the late J.R.D. TATA, one of India’s foremost industrialists who was a member of Auroville’s first International Advisory Council. After his visit to Auroville, he flew back to Chennai by helicopter and, circling over the Matrimandir, blessed Auroville by showering bougainvillea flowers, which Mother named ‘protection’. They all know this story. And somehow, his contact with Auroville has created a link and there is much goodwill for Auroville. All these top-level people, who run huge industries, come to Auroville to our small establishment to see what we do.” 

The collaboration started auspiciously on August 15th, 2016, Sri Aurobindo’s birthday and the anniversary of India’s Independence. MGE received an email from TATA Rallis, one of the companies of the TATA multinational conglomerate. Rallis was looking for an Indian company that has a proven track record in probiotics, to help it research and manufacture a line of new products for the aqua industry, particularly for shrimp farms. 

Aquaculture is a 26-billion-dollar export market. India is the second-largest fish producing country in the world. But the European Union and other international customers now reject consignments of shrimp and other aqua products that have antibiotic residues. This meant the death knell of shrimp farms in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, whose ponds were heavily polluted by the overuse of antibiotics. In India, the authorities banned the use of antibiotics in aquaculture and, consequently, American, European and Australian customers began sourcing products from India. 

But how to deal with shrimp seed mortality and shrimp diseases if antibiotics cannot be used? The only alternative is probiotics. And as there is no probiotics manufacturer in India, many Indian companies import Probiotics, especially from the USA, Europe and Japan. MGE too sources its OMRI Listed and Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved probiotics from the USA. The dormant mother culture is then activated by placing it in a ‘super-source’, mainly consisting of jaggery or molasses, a process that takes about 14 days. Once activated, the probiotics are used in MGE’s wellbeing and household products. But the dependence on an imported product was neither to the liking of Rallis nor of MGE. The collaboration, then, would need to include research and manufacture of probiotics in India.

ProB Aqua

Rallis agreed to partner with MGE. The collaboration made it necessary for MGE to obtain the necessary certifications and approvals from various government institutions. Once this was done, the first joint product, ProB Aqua, was developed and MGE became its exclusive manufacturer for Rallis. 

ProB Aqua is a probiotics product that enhances shrimp growth. But there was more to the collaboration than just ProB Aqua manufacture. “I had to visit every single shrimp farm in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal to explain the benefits of this product,” recalls Margarita. “For almost two years I worked from six in the morning to midnight. It was one of the most tiring activities I’ve ever taken up. TATA had organized the visits and provided the necessary translation services. So there I was, standing in front of a farmer or group of farmers, and explaining what probiotics are, what the product does and what the benefits are. Of course, belief comes after trying it out, so we gave them free products and invited them to try this in a few of their tanks and compare the size and weight of the shrimps and the quality of the water with the tanks which were not treated.” The product turned out to be hugely successful

GeoGreen Aqua

Aquaculture has a very high carbon footprint. Shrimp farming in particular produces large volumes of sludge, often caused by overfeeding. As the sludge contains ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, which kills the shrimps, the farmer needs to remove the polluted sludge after every batch, usually once a year. In doing so ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, greenhouse gasses compounds, are released in the air. 

Margarita knew from her earlier research in North Carolina, USA, that the sludge volume can be substantially reduced using probiotics. This led to a second Rallis product, the GeoGreen Aqua pond soil quality enhancer, an organic compost for shrimp farming. It reduces sludge volume by up to 50%. In consequence, the water level in the pond increases, which not only leads to more shrimps, but also to a substantial reduction of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite. “This is one of the most successful products,” says Margarita. “Moreover, the shrimp cycle reduces to 9 from 12 months.” The farmers’ incomes have steadily increased. 

GeoGreen, Prebiotics and Fossence

From Aqua compost to farm compost is a small step. In collaboration with another TATA company, TATA Chemicals, MGE developed ‘GeoGreen’, a natural organic manure for farms, with special formulas for rice farmers, sugarcane farmers, vegetable farmers, coffee farmers, tea farmers and ornamental farmers. “We’ve used it for the Matrimandir gardens with exceptional success,” says Margarita. 

It did not stop there. Together with engineers at the TATA Chemicals ‘Nutraceuticals Project’, MGE studied the role of probiotics in the human gut bacteria and extended the use to prebiotics. “This product does not depend on any imports, but is 100% made in India,” says Margarita proudly. Prebiotics was then used to produce ‘Fossence’, a very low sucrose-level non-digestible product that promotes the growth of good bacteria in the gut. It can be used by the food and beverage industry to replace sugar. In a country that is known to be amongst the largest sugar consumers in the world, and where there is an epidemic of diabetes, this is an important development which can help prevent many serious diseases. 

As an offspring, MGE started using prebiotics in all its wellness products. “We went to see the new factory and discovered while working with the scientists of TATA that by using 

prebiotics in probiotics, the life of probiotics increases. I suggested they use pre- and probiotics in all the wellness products that TATA Chemicals wants to promote, including soaps, shampoos and tooth powders,” says Margarita. This led to a long visit of TATA Chemicals scientists to MGE. “They sampled all our products that are under testing in their laboratories. Now, TATA Chemicals wants to take our wellbeing line.” 

Brackish Water Aquaculture

Brackish water aquaculture has been identified as one of the high potential areas for increasing finfish and shellfish production. The Central Institute of Brackish water Aquaculture (CIBA) is India’s nodal agency for the development of brackish water aquaculture. Jointly with TATA, CIBA’s scientists created a special probiotics culture for controlling ammonia, nitrate and nitrite in brackish water. The formula was patented by TATA Rallis, which in turn licensed it to MGE. Margarita was then trained at CIBA. “This shows the trust TATA has in us,” she says. New products are now being developed.

Green Clean Schools Programme

The final TATA company to contact MGE was TATA Trust. Their interest was in following a programme initiated by the Supreme Court of India born in 2005 which made Environment a compulsory subject in schools. “One consequence is that the schools must promote cleanliness. We joined the programme, but instead of promoting ‘clean schools’, we decided to promote ‘green clean schools’ and supply our probiotic multicleaner free of cost to all Auroville schools and Institutions,” says Margarita. “When the TATA scientists heard about this story, they told us that TATA Trust would like to join this campaign. We are now exploring the way to go with our multicleaner product.”

And next?

“I’m extremely happy and proud that Auroville is working hand-in-hand with TATA,” says Margarita. “But we’ll have to increase our production to answer demand. Today MGE employs 12 people, but our production will expand exponentially, even while our research with the various TATA companies to make new products continues.” She mentions ProB Poultry, a water soluble probiotics feed supplement for chicken made jointly with TATA Rallis. And the manufacture of probiotics in India? “MGE and TATA Chemicals are working on it,” she says. “India will have its own probiotics manufacturer very soon.”

For more information on MGE visit www.probioticshouse.com