Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, has signed a pact with Swift Corporation Limited, Manesar, Gurugram (Haryana), for the commercialisation of mosquito repellent cotton fabric technology.
According to the memorandum, PAU has given non-exclusive rights to the Haryana-based firm for the technology within India.
Sandeep Bains, dean, college of community science, and Sumeet Grewal, scientist, department of apparel and textile science, Punjab Agricultural University, have jointly developed the technology.
Bains and Grewal said that eco-friendly micro-encapsulated mosquito repellent fabric was developed using eucalyptus essential oil.
They added that fabric is effective in repelling three mosquito species - Ades, Anopheles and Culex which cause diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya.
The fabric lasts for 15 wash cycles and has been tested clinically on outdoor personnel and sports persons, who found it to be very efficacious against mosquitoes, they further added.