The Hindu Business Line : RubberMark signs MoU with Coir Board for c-pom

The Coir Board has entered in to an agreement with the Kerala State Co-operative Rubber Marketing Federation Ltd (RubberMark) for manufacture and supply of coir pith organic manure (c-pom) in required quantities for supply by the Federation to its member societies.

An MoU in this regard has been signed between the Coir Board and RubberMark at Kochi, in the presence of Mr A.C Jose, Chairman, Coir Board, and Mr T.H. Musthafa, President, RubberMark.

Coir Pith

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Jose said that Coir Board would take all possible measures for popularising c-pom world over. The export of coir pith will touch all time high during the current year as the figures had touched an all time high record of 53,444 tonnes valued at Rs 38.72 crore in 2005-06, he said.

Mr Musthaffa, while lauding the efforts of the Coir Board, has stated that a project to manufacture manure using coir pith and waste will be launched shortly at Chadayamangalm in Kollam district. For manufacturing tufted door mats the use of mixture of rubber and coir pith in place of PVC is under serious consideration, he added.

C-pom Production

The Central Coir Research Institute (CCRI) of the Coir Board at Kalavoor will organise the production of c-pom in its own campus and also in the fibre mills in different locations, which will be nearer to the supply point. The agreement envisages supply of a minimum quantity of 250 tonnes per annum by the Coir Board. The RubberMark will market the product through the primary societies in their brand name. The Board will ensure that the manure supplied to the RubberMark will be as per the standards stipulated by the Board.

Coir pith is a by-product of the coir Industry. The extraction of 1 kg of coir fibre generates 2 kg of coir pith and in India an estimated seven lakh tonnes of coir pith is produced a year. Coir pith compost, developed from coir waste is a good organic manure and soil conditioner applicable to agricultural crops.

In Kerala, on an average, around 1,80,000 tonnes of coir fibre is produced every year. This will generate 3,60,000 tonnes of coir pith annually. The coir pith, which is a corky material has got very good water holding capacity and therefore, is considered as a good mulch material.

Collaboration

The Central Coir Research Institute of the Coir Board in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, had developed a technology for composting of coir pith using a fungal spawn.

The CCRI has also been demonstrating the production of c-pom in the major coir producing States by sending technical team and also provided the Pithplus and Urea required for composting 50 tonnes of coir pith free of cost. By composting coir pith within 30 days, there will be reduction to the extent of 42 per cent in volume of coir pith.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | Co-operatives | Coir | Fertilisers | Kerala

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