Coir industry in bad shape

By James Paul | 02 Dec 2003

Kochi: The Rs-800-crore coir sector in Kerala is in a bad shape. The alarming rise of coconut fibre has taken all the sheen of the golden fibre, which was scaling new heights till six months ago.

Undoubtedly, this time it is the fallout of the uncanny experiment to transplant the coir industry, which has an umbilical-cord relation with the soil of Kerala, to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. When large coconut plantations came up there nearly a decade ago, both large and small players in Kerala flocked to these states for setting up shops and sourcing the fibre.

The low price of the fibre produced by the mechanised de-fibreing units in these states and the licensing system in Kerala then had made the bordering states a promised land for the coir industry. But now the honeymoon has come to an end. And stark realities are staring at the coir industry in the state.

The tragedy came in the form of a long spell of drought in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Lakhs of coconut perished, unable to withstand the long drought there. It pushed up the price of the fibre. A bale (35 kg), which was available for Rs 250-275 six months ago, now costs Rs 335 to Rs 450.

"People from Kerala are making a beeline in front of the fibre units at Kanyakumari, Nagarcoil, Pollachi and Theni [the main coconut producing centres in Tamil Nadu] for getting fibre. It not only inflates the price, but also reduces the quality and weight of the bales," says P Pavithran, president, All-Kerala Small Scale Coir Manufacturers' Association.

The state, which now totally depends on Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, needs 100 truckload of fibre daily during the lean season and 250 loads in the peak season. But hardly 25 loads come these days, said Pavitharan.

"Let us hope that the present crisis is a blessing in disguise for the coir industry in Kerala. The situation demands collective effort to breath life into this gasping industry which provides jobs over 5 lakh people and fetches foreign exchange to the tune of Rs 400 crore," says a yarn merchant near Cherthala.

Once well-oiled husk collecting system in the state is in a shambles now. When the entire industry turned to the neighbouring states for fibre, the individuals and agencies involved in the business retreated from the scene. Though the government had lifted the licensing, it failed to kick-start the system.

Barring a few northern districts, the husk is collected nowhere in the state now. In northern districts, the Tamil Nadu businessmen collect the husks, de-fibre them in Coimbatore and sell back to the Kerala units.

The only silver-lining is the move by the Coir Board to collect the husk through the women self-help groups and de-fibre them at the mobile de-fibering units and the proposed de-fibering units at Kanjikuzhi and other parts of Ambalappuzha-Cherthala taluk.