The Hindu : Kerala News : 12,000 more jobs in coir sector

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 13, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

12,000 more jobs in coir sector

Staff Reporter

621 units to be set up

KANNUR: An estimated 12,000 jobs will be created in the coir sector in the State during the Eleventh Plan, as the Coir Board plans to help entrepreneurs set up 621 coir units.

A.C. Jose, Chairman of the Board, said at a press conference here on Saturday that 168 units would be in Kannur and 95 in Kasaragod.

The Board would fund their setting up and modernisation of the existing units at 25 per cent subsidy towards the cost of machinery and work shed, up to Rs. 1.5 lakh a unit.

Mr. Jose said the Board would take steps to popularise production of compost using coir pith, as there was a great demand for it abroad. The technology developed by the Board for converting coir pith into organic manure had been sold to a Kuwait-based company at $44,000 (about Rs. 18 lakh).

The fungal spawn "pith plus," used by the manure producers, would be distributed from the Board's regional office here, he said.

A.P. Abdullakutty, MP, inaugurated the distribution at the office in the morning.

At present, the Board had a unit for producing "pith plus" in Alappuzha, he said.

A production unit started here would become functional in a month.

Mr. Jose said an estimated seven lakh tonnes of manure was expected from the Malabar region.

Local bodies would be offered funds to start "pith plus" units.

The manure was found useful owing to its high water-retention quality.

The Board was also exploring the geo-textile potential of coir.

He said the Malabar region accounted for 49 per cent of the coconut production in the State, and the regional office set up here last year would strengthen the coir sector. The office had trained more than 1,250 women in coir-making.

The trainees had been paid a monthly stipend of Rs. 500 and would be distributed ratts at 75 per cent subsidy.

He said many entrepreneurs in the region had come forward to set up coir units following a workshop organised here to motivate them. One unit had already started. The Board would ensure quality by deputing supervisors to inspect the quality of the yarn and products.

Seminar

A release issued at the press conference said the regional office would organise the World Environment Day celebrations on June 5 by holding a seminar on "Eco-coir for environment protection" at Palakkad.

Prospective entrepreneurs from the region had been taken to coir-producing centres at Pollachi and Alappuzha to show them a variety of products, it added.

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