Rain solves nutty issue,brings down husk price to revive coir industry in Tamil Nadu
Coir Board Chairman C P Radhakrishnan has expressed hope that the coconut production cycle would be restored soon, thus meeting the demand for husk.
Published: 23rd May 2018 03:36 AM | Last Updated: 23rd May 2018 05:51 AM | A+A A-
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COIMBATORE: Coir Board Chairman C P Radhakrishnan has expressed hope that the coconut production cycle would be restored soon, thus meeting the demand for husk.As the coconut producing regions of Tamil Nadu is getting good amount of rainfall this season, he said the raw material prices would soon come down, paving way for restoration of massive production and employment in coir industry.
According to him, severe drought in Tamil Nadu last summer took a heavy toll on production of coconuts and thereby functioning of fibre extraction mills. Drastic reduction in production led to shortage of husk and prices saw an significant increase of 60 to 80 per cent.Coconut husk processing is done in Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Thiruvallur, Tiruchi, Madurai, Salem, Dharmapuri, Erode, Karur, Tirupur, Coimbatore and Vellore districts and about 1200 mills are engaged in coir fibre production in and around Pollachi.
The endeavours of Coir Board during the next long term plan period, Radhakrishnan said, is to go for a jump in raw material utilisation and production of coir in states like Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal, which have a very good raw material availability.He further said the board has now launched Coir Industry Technology Upgradation Scheme to promote larger investments in the sector, making it attractive to unemployed youth.
For providing hand holding support to small players and household units, the board has implemented ‘Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries’ (SFURTI) with cent per cent funding support from the government for soft interventions and 75 per cent government support for setting up of Common Facility Centres (CFCs).Fine-tuning of innovative products like coir wood, popularisation of the uses of coir geo textiles in India and abroad have been taken up vigorously, Radhakrishnan said in a release.
Fiber processing
Coconut husk processing is done in Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Thiruvallur, Tiruchi, Madurai, Salem, Dharmapuri, Erode, Karur, Tirupur, Coimbatore and Vellore districts
