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COCONUT
Coir
Coir industry is second only to agriculture as a source of employment in Kerala. The industry provides employment to 3.93 lakh persons. Of which 3.25 lack are women. In Kerala coir industry is concentrated in
- Alappuzha
- Kayamkulam
- Chirayinkeezhu
- Kollam
- North Paravur
- Trichur
- Kozhikode
- Kannur
- Ponnani
- Vaikom
Coir fibre
Coir fibre is extracted from the husk of coconut. Husks are composed of 70% pith and 30% fibre on a dry weight basis. Depending on the method of extraction coir fibre is divided into two. White fibre and brown fibre. White fibre or retted fibre is extracted after reting. The yield of white coir fibre is about 95 kg/ 100 nuts in India. Where as in Sri Lanka it is 150 kg due to larger white fibre Brown fibre is extracted from dry or semi dry husk after soaking or mechanized extraction. Fibre is more resistant than tropical timber against rotting under wet and dry conditions and it is a renewable source. The world’s best quality fibres are produced from South India and Sri Lanka. Depending upon the length of fibre they are graded as long, medium and short. The ratio of yield of long , median and short fibre is an average, 60: 30: 10 respectively. Kerala produced 5744 million nuts and 1,80,000 metric tons of fiber to 39%utilizatin of husk. The utilizatin of husk in other states of India are 44% in Tamil Nadu, 35% in Karnataka, 32% in Andra Pradesh, 17% in Orissa and 22% in other states.
The average fibre yield is dependent on geographic area and the variety of the coconut tree.
Fibre properties
Depending upon the extraction procedure used, the qualities of fibre may vary. Generally 56-65% of long fibres of over 150 mm (up to 350 mm staple length) and 5-8 % short fibres of under 50mm are obtained after processing. The coir fibre is highly resistant to microbial degradation and can withstand exposure to salt water thus making it an ideal choice for preparation of ropes.
Chemically coir fibre is made up of cellulose (35-37 %) , hemi cellulose (15-16 %), lignin (32-33% ), pectin (4-6 % ).
Chemical composition of the plant fibre
Fibre Waxes |
Cellulose |
Hemicellulose |
Pectin |
Lignin |
Extractives |
Fats & |
per cent dry weight |
||||||
Cotton |
91.8 |
6.3 |
- |
- |
1.1 |
0.7 |
Flax (bast) |
71.2 |
18.5 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
4.3 |
1.6 |
Hemp (bast) |
78.3 |
5.4 |
2.5 |
2.9 |
- |
- |
Jute (bast) |
71.5 |
13.3 |
0.2 |
13.1 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
Coir (brown) |
35.6 |
15.4 |
5.1 |
32.7 |
3.0 |
- |
Coir (white) |
36.7 |
15.2 |
4.7 |
32.5 |
3.1 |
- |
Coir pith |
19.9 |
11.9 |
7.0 |
53.3 |
0.3 |
- |
Sisal |
73.1 |
13.3 |
0.9 |
11.0 |
1.3 |
0.3 |
Abaca |
70.2 |
21.7 |
0.6 |
5.6 |
1.6 |
0.2 |
Coir Processing - Technology and Machinery
Extraction of coir fibre
Coir fibre is extracted from coconut by retting or by mechanical process using either defibring or decorticating equipment. The traditional extraction method of retting is laborious, time consuming and highly polluting. This requires10-12 months of anaerobic fermentation, followed by extraction of the fibre by heating. Eventhough laborious, this yield high quality white fibre which are more suitable for dyeing and bleaching. Instead of retting, mechanical processing using defbringor decorticating equipment is also being practiced. The quality of fibre extracted by this process is inferior to those obtain by retting. Central coir research institute has developed a new method whreby retting can be done within a period of 3 months instead of 6-10 months using a microbial consortium.
Bleaching
Coir fibres are bleached for making it commercially more attractive. This also helps to give the coir different colours by dyeing.
Coir can be bleached by different methods. Use of the most potential bleaching agent namely chlorine has been eliminated because of environmental concern. Coir is bleached by cold peroxidase bleaching or per acetic acid bleaching. Studies are in progress to develop a bio bleaching technique for coir
Dyeing
Coir is dyed to enhance it appeal of the product manufactured by it to the customer.The chemical used for dyeing is critical as many of the dyes used for coloring are banned in developed countries.Dyes which are banned include azo dyes which are able to release one or more of the 20 listed carcinogenic aromatic amides.
List of banned basic amino or azo dyes in Germany
Dyestuffs which can split into: benzidine 4-chloro-2-methylaniline 2- naphtylamine biphenyl-4-amine (=aminodiphenyl) o-dianisidine 3,3’-dichlorobenzidine 4-chloroaniline (chloro-o-toluidine) o-toluidine (=2-aminotoluene/2-methylaniline) o-aminoazotoluene 2-amino-4-nitrotoluene 2,4-diaminotoluene 2,4-diaminoanisole 4,4’-diaminodiphenylmethane 4,4’-diamino-3,3’dimethyldiphenylmethane 4,4’-diamino-3,3’dichlorodiphenylmethane 4,4’-bis-(dimethylamino)diphenylmethane 4,4’-diaminodiphenylether 4,4’-diaminodiphenylsulphide 2,4,5-trimethylaniline p-cresidine |
Dyestuffs used for dyeing coir fibre (brown or retted) in different shades
Acid dyestuffs |
Acid Brill blue BR |
Nigrosine XLS |
|
Patent blue ASD |
|
Acid Orange II |
|
Acid Milling Red G |
|
Acid Milling Yellow G |
|
Acid Violet |
|
Direct dyes |
Direct fast red 5B |
Direct fast orange SE |
|
Direct yellow 5 GL |
|
Direct green B |
|
Direct sky blue D6B |
|
Direct brown MR |
|
Direct black E |
|
Direct fast violet 4BL |
|
Chrysophenine CH |
|
Auxiliaries |
Azofast LRW |
Basic dyes |
Auramine OA |
Rhodamine B500 |
|
Malachite Green XLS |
|
Methyl violet 2B |
|
Methylene blue 2B |
|
Magentha |
|
Bismarck Brown |
|
Chrysoidene |
Dyeing is carried out by treating the fiber in a hot solution contining different diester.
Softening
Coir fibers are softened to improve the feel of the product and for mixing it with other natural and synthetic fibers for preparation of different products.Even though several chemical softners are tried ,sofar no chemical have been found for softening coir yarn satisfactory.Priliminary trials have shown that coir could be softened by the use of vegitable batching oil.Biosoftening is another approach explored for softening coir fibers
Printing and Designing :
Coir products:
The coir fibre in India is utilized only to the extend of 25% for creating useful products. The coir products marketed include traditional items such as Retted Fiber, Bristle Fiber, Unfretted Fiber, Beach Creel Mats, Vycome Creel Mats, Power Loom Creel Mats, Fiber Mats, Rod Mats, Carnatic Mats, Corridor Mats, Sinnet Mats, Loop Mats, Mesh Mats, Gymnasia Mats, Rope Mats, Matting Mats, Coir Matting Rugs, Erosion Control Blanket, Mesh Matting, Coco Logs, Plant Basket, Coco Poles, Plant Pots, Export Hanks, Bobbins, Coir Matting, Basket Weave, Four Treadle Weave, Ribbed Matting, Multi-Shaft Matting, Cricket Pitch Matting, Non Woven Carpets, PVC Tufted Carpets, Molded Mats, peat Products, Organic Manure, Needled Felt, Curled Coir, Hand Knotted Netting, Coir Fender, Coir Braid, Coir Bag, Bare Mattress, Coir Ropes, Coir Brushes etc
Now a days coir products are facing tough competition from the natural and synthetic fibres and innovative and value added products are to be produced inorder to maintain the competitive edge in the international trade.One of the newer coir product which is gaining international acceptance is coir geo-textiles, used for soil erosion ,road construction ,stabilization etc
Product Pictures :
Testing Facilities :
In order confirm the quality of the product it has to be tested and validated. Testing facilities for coir products are available with the coir board
Coir board showrooms :
Coir Manufactures
Classified into different groups – Manufacurers, mattings, Geotextiles etc.
Coir Machinery - Machines and Suppliers :
Varieties of coir yarn produced from Kerala
Ashtamudi
Anjengo
Mangadan
Artary
Vaikom
Koilandy
Arror Sp
Muppine
Rope Yarn
COIR GEOTEXTILES
Any material used for improving the soil behavior, preventing soil erosion and help consolidaton of the soil can be termed as geotextiles. Geotextile is a woven / non woven knitted structure of natural/ synthetic textile fibre used in various geo technical, civil engineering and soil conservation applications.
coir geotextiles are of different types, the two main geo textiles made from coir:
- Woven geotextiles
- Non-woven geotextiles
Woven geotextiles
Three types of woven geotextiles are currently being manufactured .( a). Coir mesh mattings of two shaft view (b) Coir woven fabrics with loop construction. (c) Coir bags made with latex backed coir matting. Coir mesh mattings of different mesh sizes are most established coir textiles. Mesh mattings having different specifications are available under qualitycode numbers H2M1 to H2M10. These qualities represents coir textiles of different mesh sizes ranging from 1/8’’ to 1’’. The selection of geotextile for a particular slope depends upon the type of slope, soil condition and vegitation. If the slope is steep, the mesh size will be closer. The decorticated fibre/bristle fibre spun on machines can also be woven as geotextiles. Since colour of yarn is noyt a criteria for geotextile applications, the brown can be better utilized to produce coir geotextiles at a cheaper rate. This will pave way for manufacture of value added products from brown fibre
Product No. |
Warp ends per dm |
Weft picks per dm |
Density kg/sq.m. |
H2M1 H2M2 H2M3 H2M4 H2M5 H2M6 H2M7 H2M8 H2M9 H2M10 |
9 8 14 19 9 4.6 4 11 13 18 |
8 7 14 11 8 4 6 7 7 9 |
0.650 0.700 0.875 1.400 0.740 0.400 1.250 0.700 0.900 1.300 |
Non woven geo textiles :
Several types of non woven geotextiles exist. Most non woven mats are made from loose fibres., which are interlocked by needling or rubberizing. Non-woven mats are available in several dimention. They have a minimum thickness of two mm.The non-woven geo textiles are categorized into three groups. (a) Coco logs (b) Coir fibre beds (c) Coir needle felts.
Product Specification of Coco-beds
Thickness |
5 cm |
5 cm |
8 cm |
9 cm |
15 cm |
Width |
100 cm |
60 cm |
60 cm |
76 cm |
60 cm |
Length |
500 cm |
600 cm |
600 cm |
127 cm |
600 cm |
?Product Specification of Coco-Logs are:
Diameter |
30 cm |
40 cm |
50 cm |
Length |
600 cm |
600 cm |
600 cm |
Weight |
64 kg |
114 kg |
178 kg |
Advantages of coir geotextiles
Among the natural fibres available, coir is the ideal choice a a geotextile material. Experimental studies conducted have proved that while cotton and jute degrades within 6 months coir retains its 20% strength even after one year. Other advantages of coir are:
- It is 100% natural
- It is biodegradable, still last minimum for 2 seasons
- It provides excellent micro climate for plant establishment and growth
- Easy to install
- Available in plenty
- Economical.
The major problem to explore market for coir geotextiles in India is the geographical disadvantage. At present coir geotextiles are produced in Kerala, the southern most part of India whereas the major markets for coir geotextiles are Eastern sector and North India. Further, coir is an voluminous fibre and hence attract more freight charges than its competitors Jute and other synthetic fibres. The labour charges for handlng coir will be also more than the other competitors. In order to overcome this problem the only way out is supplying the material at a highly competitive rate. This can be done by producing coir geotextiles in a massive scale in the Brown coir producing regions.
Constructional details of Coir Geotextiles
Designation |
Type of warp yarn |
Appro.Scorage of warp yarn |
Ends per dm |
Type of weft yarn |
Picks per dm |
Mass kg/m 2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Handloom mattings |
||||||
MMA1(H2M1) |
Anjengo |
14 |
9 |
Vycome |
8 |
0.650 |
MMA2(H2M4) |
Anjengo |
12 |
19 |
Aratory |
11 |
1.400 |
MMA3(H2M8) |
Anjengo |
12 |
11 |
Aratory |
7 |
0.700 |
MMA4(H2M9) |
Anjengo |
11 |
13 |
Aratory |
7 |
0.900 |
MMA5(H2M10) |
Anjengo |
11 |
18 |
Anjengo |
9 |
1.300 |
MMR1(H2M3) |
Aratory |
15 |
14 |
Aratory |
14 |
0.875 |
MMV1(H2M5) |
Vycome |
13 |
9 |
Vycome |
8 |
0.740 |
MMV2(H2M6) |
Vycome |
12 |
4.6 |
Vycome |
4 |
0.400 |
MMB1(H2M2) |
Beach |
9 |
8 |
Beach |
7 |
0.700 |
MMY1(H2M7) |
Beypore |
- |
4 |
Beypore |
6 |
1.250 |
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