Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Value-added coir products in demand, says Collector

Staff Reporter

`Coir Board renders technical advice to farmers'

ERODE: Farmers in the district sell coconut fibre at Rs. 8 a kg. If value addition is done to the fibre, they may get double the amount, said Collector D. Karthikeyan here on Tuesday. He was inaugurating an awareness camp- cum-workshop on `Value Addition in Coir Products' conducted by the District Industries Centre.

The Collector said that farmers had cultivated 25 lakh and odd coconut trees on over 17,125 hectares in the district. They used 25 per cent of the coconuts for domestic purpose. They sold the remaining and after removing the nuts, the fibre at a low rate.

Several new technologies were available to convert fibre into value added products. The Coir Board was rendering technical advice to farmers to produce carpets and doormats from coconut fibre.

Mr. Karthikeyan said that a team of industrialists was selected to visit coir industries and they would have an exposure tour to Kerala. The Collector wanted the SHG members to avail themselves of the services of District Rural Development Agency and Women Development Corporation in this regard.

No proper utilisation

At the meeting, Regional Officer, Coir Board, Pollachi, R. Nagarajan said that from Kerala annually coir products worth Rs. 300 crores to Rs. 400 crores were exported. But in the State, coconut fibre and pith were not utilised properly. Coir pith could be used as manure for horticulture crops.

Training

The Regional Officer said that the Board was providing two months training for production of coir yarn. In Tamil Nadu, coconut fibre was available in abundance, but only 40 per cent was utilised. So he wanted SHGs and industrialists to produce coir products.

Regarding marketing, he said that the Coir Board was running 32 showrooms in India, through which the products may be marketed or through some agencies it could be exported. District Industries Centre General Manager C.K. Ponnuswamy welcomed.

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