Kerala - Alappuzha   

Coir Board to purchase fibre from neighbouring States

By Our Staff Reporter

ALAPPUZHA, JAN. 27. The Coir Board has initiated several steps to help producers of coir products in the State to purchase coir fibre from neighbouring states to tide over the crisis arising out of shortage of coconut fibre in the State, the Coir Board Chairman, C. Chandran, has said.

At a press conference here today, Mr. Chandran said the board had opened a coconut fibre distribution centre at Kalavoor for facilitating the Kanyakumari Central Cooperative Society to sell coir fibre to producers of coir products in the State. The arrival of fibre from Kanyakumari to the distribution centre was being monitored regularly, Mr. Chandran said.

The Coir Board Chairman said the board had explored the possibilities of sourcing fibre from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to solve the shortage in Kerala. The Coir Board had given a sum of Rs. 2 lakhs to the Karnataka Government to provide transportation subsidy to producers of coconut fibre in Karnataka, to enable them sell their product in Kerala at a reasonable price, he added.

Mr. Chandran said the regional office of the Coir Board at Vishakhapatanam in Andhra Pradesh would provide assistance to coir product manufacturers from the State to buy coconut fibre from there. He said the Coir Board had also initiated some long-term measures to ensure a steady supply of coconut fibre. As part of this initiative, the Coir Board had resolved to send a delegation to Sri Lanka to examine whether it was feasible to import coconut fibre from Sri Lanka. The board had requested all District Collectors in the State to take steps to start coconut husk defibring units in all districts to make of use of the husk available in the State, said Mr. Chandran. "The Coir board also proposes to introduce a permanent mechanism for collecting coconut husk from the State," he added.

Moreover, members of self-help groups of women would be provided incentives to collect locally available husk, said Mr Chandran. He noted that the project would provide employment to one-lakh people.

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