Business deals worth Rs 150 crore are expected to have materialised between global buyers and manufacturers at the buyer-seller meet held as part of the Coir Kerala 2014 on Monday.
State minister for revenue and coir, Adoor Prakash, who inaugurated the meet, said the meet was a major success with the manufacturers and exporters managing to strike business deals with buyers.
Apart from private exporters, public sector undertakings (PSUs) also zeroed in on business deals with the buyers. "We expect these to be worth close to our target of Rs 150 crore," he added. The minister also said good promotion and marketing of coir were as much of a priority for the government as its production.
"We want to see high-quality coir as well as value-added products and innovations from Kerala make their way to new markets worldwide," he said. Research and development had helped the industry come out with a lot of value-added coir products and the government was now looking at the possibility of producing energy from coir pith, according to him.
Agri Coir Cell for cultivation on slopes
A meshed cellular structure made purely of eco-friendly coir developed by the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), is attracting potential buyers from India and overseas at the Coir Kerala International trade fair, being held at Alappuzha.
The product called - Agri Coir Cell- could bring large areas of erosion-prone slope lands under cultivation.
Coir ropes woven into geotextiles have long been used to prevent mudslides and erosion along slopes. While the geotextiles help stabilise the slope, the land is still largely unusable because agriculture involves disturbing the soil, a process that could adversely affect these sensitive regions.
The Coir Cell not only tackles the problem of erosion better than conventional geotextiles, it also effectively provides small pockets of soil, much like rows of porous flower-pots, which can be individually dug and planted in without disturbing the surrounding area.
The NCRMI has also developed a system to lay the cells, which are held in place by a metal frame around bamboo/wood stakes. The mesh can be made with small or large cells, depending on the requirement. Smaller cells can be used to cultivate vegetables or grow flowering shrubs and the larger ones can be used for fruit trees.
Once the plants grow, their roots bind the soil and give the slopes additional stability.
"Slopes reinforced with conventional geotextiles do have grass and plants growing on them, but we have not so far been able to use these areas for full-fledged cultivation. With agri coir cells, we hope to change that," said NCRMI director, K R Anil. There are synthetic variants of these cells available elsewhere, but coir is certainly the more sustainable, eco-friendly solution, he stated.
The NCRMI has successfully tested the coir cells at its research facility in Kudappanakkunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, and is exploring the commercial viability of the product.
State minister for revenue and coir, Adoor Prakash, who inaugurated the meet, said the meet was a major success with the manufacturers and exporters managing to strike business deals with buyers.
Apart from private exporters, public sector undertakings (PSUs) also zeroed in on business deals with the buyers. "We expect these to be worth close to our target of Rs 150 crore," he added. The minister also said good promotion and marketing of coir were as much of a priority for the government as its production.
"We want to see high-quality coir as well as value-added products and innovations from Kerala make their way to new markets worldwide," he said. Research and development had helped the industry come out with a lot of value-added coir products and the government was now looking at the possibility of producing energy from coir pith, according to him.
Agri Coir Cell for cultivation on slopes
A meshed cellular structure made purely of eco-friendly coir developed by the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), is attracting potential buyers from India and overseas at the Coir Kerala International trade fair, being held at Alappuzha.
The product called - Agri Coir Cell- could bring large areas of erosion-prone slope lands under cultivation.
Coir ropes woven into geotextiles have long been used to prevent mudslides and erosion along slopes. While the geotextiles help stabilise the slope, the land is still largely unusable because agriculture involves disturbing the soil, a process that could adversely affect these sensitive regions.
The Coir Cell not only tackles the problem of erosion better than conventional geotextiles, it also effectively provides small pockets of soil, much like rows of porous flower-pots, which can be individually dug and planted in without disturbing the surrounding area.
The NCRMI has also developed a system to lay the cells, which are held in place by a metal frame around bamboo/wood stakes. The mesh can be made with small or large cells, depending on the requirement. Smaller cells can be used to cultivate vegetables or grow flowering shrubs and the larger ones can be used for fruit trees.
Once the plants grow, their roots bind the soil and give the slopes additional stability.
"Slopes reinforced with conventional geotextiles do have grass and plants growing on them, but we have not so far been able to use these areas for full-fledged cultivation. With agri coir cells, we hope to change that," said NCRMI director, K R Anil. There are synthetic variants of these cells available elsewhere, but coir is certainly the more sustainable, eco-friendly solution, he stated.
The NCRMI has successfully tested the coir cells at its research facility in Kudappanakkunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, and is exploring the commercial viability of the product.