Coir geo-textile gaining popularity: Coir Board Chairman

Bangalore, Nov 1 (UNI) The coir geo-textile, developed by research and development wing of Coir Board is gaining popularity in India and abroad, Coir Board Chairman A C Jose said today.

Talking to newspersons here, he said the mine owners of South Africa had evinced keen interest on coir geo-textile, which was very effective in controlling soil erosion. A delegation recently visited South Africa and talks were on in this regard.

He said the Railways had shown interest in the product as it could prevent landslide during rainy season.

Another product called "Coir Pith" could be used as manure in horticulture and agriculture, he said and added that a Kuwait company had acquired the technology for US Dollar 44,000.

He appealed to Karnataka government to ban the burning of husk as it could be put to productive use.

Tamil Nadu had already banned and Andhra Pradesh was taking steps in this direction, he added.

Mr Jose said the new technology on coir pith was the result of research and development activities undertaken in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

A new technology was developed for composing coir pith into organic manure.

The country had exported 53,444 tonne of coir pith worth nearly Rs 39 crore last year.

The Coir Board would organise a five-day India-International Coir Fair in Kerala from December seven to attract foreign buyers and exhibit value added products.

''It will be a Buyers-Sellers meet. International Seminars on the subject to popularise the technology developed by Research and Development wing would be held,'' he said.

He said last year the export of coir products was Rs 605 crore and this year the target was fixed at Rs 700 crore.

Last year 43 per cent of the export was made to US and 41 per cent to European countries, he added.

UNI