How a textile entrepreneur is closing the loop on natural pesticides

In Kuilapalayam, a small village near Auroville, Tamil Nadu, a groundbreaking innovation is taking root, thanks to Gowri Shankar, the founder of Faborg. This innovative social enterprise promotes natural farming practices and the utilisation of traditional fiber-yielding plants.

Shankar’s company has found a way to transform the humble Calotropis plant—known as milkweed—into a powerful tool for sustainability, producing both vegan wool, ‘Weganool’, and natural pest repellents. 

As the fashion industry faces increasing pressure to adopt eco-friendly practices, Faborg’s innovative approach aims to disrupt traditional methods and offer a viable, environmentally conscious alternative.

A family business

Shankar’s journey into this space began with a dual interest in textiles and agriculture, both passions he inherited from his family.

Growing up in a textile community in Tiruvannamalai district, Shankar was fascinated and alarmed by the ecological costs of fabric dyeing and processing. “My community has been into textile manufacturing for over 1,000 years. The kind of damage caused to our natural environment was shocking with our water table getting polluted at frightening rates,” Shankar tells SocialStory. 

He then left the business to work with fashion houses where he yet again saw little sustainable alternatives. 

"My interest was textiles, and my family was into agriculture. Also, I was part of my farm back when I grew up,” says Shankar. This background gave him a unique perspective, allowing him to see the potential of merging these two fields to create something more sustainable.

Shankar’s exploration led him to Calotropis, a wild flowering shrub often considered a weed. Unlike cotton, which requires large quantities of water and resources to cultivate, Calotropis thrives in arid, barren lands with minimal intervention. 

"The biggest possibility of this plant that I’m working with is it does not need water to grow, and you don’t need to re-irrigate your land. It grows freely and its stems and pods can be harvested throughout the year. There are numerous advantages," says Shankar.

The fibers extracted from Calotropis have the potential to replace wool, a resource-intensive material often criticised for its environmental impact and the ethical concerns surrounding animal cruelty. 

"These fibers are hollow. They have a huge potential of replacing wool fibers in the market," explains Shankar. 

Vegan wool, or Weganool, is not only cruelty-free but also offers warmth and durability, making it an attractive alternative for conscious consumers seeking plant-based options.

Faborg e-tails its fabric across the world. It has partnerships with companies working on sustainable fashion and sells in countries where winter wear is in demand. The natural pesticide produced by Faborg is directly given to farmers or through the Faborg website.

Currently, Weganwool by Faborg is priced at Rs 1,500 per metre, which Shankar agrees is steep, but he also believes it will regularise as more people start cultivating Calotropis and process fabric out of it.  

Better farming

Beyond textiles, Faborg’s innovative approach extends to agriculture. By using the liquid byproducts from the fiber processing, Shankar’s team has created a highly effective pest repellent that is already making a significant impact among local farmers. 

"We tested it out in quite a lot of places, and right now, they would have replaced about 120 metric tons of pesticide with the farmers," he says. This natural alternative has the potential to reduce dependence on harmful chemicals, making organic farming more accessible and affordable. 

Despite these successes, Shankar’s path has not been without challenges. Registering the company, navigating governmental regulations, and overcoming skepticism have been his most significant hurdles. 

"There were challenges right from the day we wanted to register this company. Am I an agricultural company? Am I a textile company unit? I am already in the pesticide industry," he recalls. The innovative nature of Faborg’s work—operating at the intersection of agriculture, textiles, and sustainability—meant that existing categories and support systems often didn’t align with their needs.

Nevertheless, Faborg has persevered. Today, the company works closely with farmers, offering affordable and effective products that not only help protect crops but also foster a sustainable future. 

"We are constantly working with the farmers on a day-to-day basis. It’s completely a farmers’ project, and we are giving the product so cheap... they don’t have to ever go back to chemicals again in their life," Shankar says, underscoring the transformative impact of their work. 

One of Faborg’s most remarkable achievements is creating a closed-loop system, where waste from one process becomes the input for another. The liquid used in the production of Weganool is repurposed as a pest repellent, making the entire operation virtually waste-free. 

"For example, if you consume about Rs 3,000 worth of chemicals for a rice farm, the farmer needs to spend only Rs 90 with our product to get the same result," Shankar says, highlighting the economic benefits to the farming community.

"I would probably say we’re the first textile company actually selling the effluents and making money," Shankar says. "This liquid helps the fiber project, the fiber helps the liquid—both ways it works."

Samkumar VM, a cardamom farmer from Idukki, Kerala, has been trying to cultivate organically for six years now. He used to spend Rs 3 lakh per year to get natural fertilisers and pesticides including bio potassium and Jeevamrutham, a traditional Indian liquid fertilizer. Today, he requires one jar (26 litres) of Aarka pesticide, made from fermented Calotropis extract by Faborg for the whole year and nothing else. 

"I now spend only Rs 25,000 per year and the harvest has also increased by at least 20%," says Samkumar.

Shankar’s dedication to sustainability is rooted in a deep concern for the environment and a desire to repair the damage caused by conventional agricultural and industrial practices. "The textile industry is the third biggest polluter in the world right now," he says. His mother's struggles with lupus, an autoimmune disease linked to environmental toxins, further fueled his commitment to finding a cleaner, more responsible way forward. 

"When your water is damaged, the water table is damaged, your filtering system gets damaged and your liver accumulates all the poison," he says.

Through Faborg, Shankar aims to create a philosophy—one that challenges the status quo and offers a vision of a future where sustainability and profitability coexist. From vegan wool to eco-friendly pest control, Faborg’s innovations are a testament to the power of reimagining what is possible when we turn to nature for solutions.