India's Coir Fibre is the Best in the World

India’s coir fibre being said to be the best in the world, Indian government established a
statutory body, Coir board under the Coir industry Act 1953 for promotion and development of
coir industry in India. The head office of coir board is situated at Kochi, Kerala, India and the
research and development offices being situated at Kalavoor, Alappuzha. The coir industry
employs more than 7 lakh people from rural area mostly being from the economically weaker
section of the society. The coir board acts under the rules and regulations formulated by the
Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprise, another body of the government.

Coir fibres are extracted from the coconut plant which has unique properties compared
to other natural fibres. They are the thickest and most resistant of all other natural fibres. The
cellular structure makes it highly elastic and the walls have more lignin. Lignin is a natural
polymer found in natural fibres. They inhibit elasticity and strength to these fibres and increase
the durability when transformed into outdoor application.

Different uses of Coir Fibres

1. Ropes and twines are common and is found in roadside stalls
2. Broomsticks and Brushes are made as they can always compete with synthetic ones
in terms of durability and stiffness.
3. Doormats and rugs are again common items made from coir as they are almost
indestructible scrubby and stylish. These are mostly used as household items and
sometimes as decorative.
4. Mattresses and car seats are made from coir sprayed with natural latex and called as
rubberized coir.
5. Car seat covers are still found in high-end European car models. These are costly but
highly durable and when blended with other natural fibres, they become soft.

The end products after the coir fibres are used are coir dust and very short fibres. They
can be used as manure as they have high water retaining capacity.

The versatility of coir is enormous. Uses of coir as Geo-textiles are the most important.
Coir is formed in the form of cocolog, coir netting and much more. Railway embankment
protection is another important application of coir. It is used to prevent soil erosion from the
slopes and the embankment of the roads.

They are also used to make flower pots called coco-pots. These can retain twice as much
water as its own weight. Mattreses are hand made and hand designed with coir by rural people
of India.
 There is a total of 93 countries growing coconuts in the world of which India and Sri
Lanka are the two major producers of coir and coir products. India is the leading exporters of
coir in the world followed by Sri Lanka exporting coir and coir products at the highest prices.
United states of America are the highest importers of coir yarns in the world followed by
Germany, Italy and France. China is the highest importers of coir fibres from India followed by
the Netherlands and Spain. All these data are based according to the figures graphed between
1990 and 2007. Thus, India is considered the leading producer of Coir Fibre in the world.