The Hindu Business Line : Which came first

But, in reality, it is the ‘fibre’ from the coconut husk that is used for making coir (in rope form). Fibre from the coconut tree ought to have been known as ‘coconut fibre’ and ‘coir’ explained as ‘rope made out of coconut fibre’.

This anomaly prompted Dr C. K. Thampi, Member of the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Region Committee and a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London, to write to Ms Margot Charlton at Ask Oxford, Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, London.

Dr Thampi told Business Line that he explained to Ms Charlton that ‘rope’ is only one of the products of coconut fibre and fibre from the coconut tree must be called “coconut fibre”.

In response, he was informed about the latest entry in the Oxford English Dictionary Online Edition 2005 stating coir as “the prepared fibre of the husk of coconut, used for making rope, cordage, mattings etc. Originally, thread or cordage made of this fibre.”

WRONG IMPRESSION

The coir (rope) has been in use since ancient times for domestic and export purposes. This continued use of the coir rope through generations may have erroneously thrown up the impression that it is a basic raw material.

This is one reason why all R&D activities have come to focus on coir and its products, and nothing beyond, Dr Thampi said. The basic fibre study vis-a-vis coconut plant variety and diversification of products at the fibre level was also compromised in this manner.

This has done more harm than any good to this traditional sector industry employing lakhs of economically backward people, Dr Thampi said.

One other erroneous bit of information in the dictionary was in the statement that “the best coir is made from the unripe nuts.” Dr Thampi corrected the Oxford University Press that ‘the best’ coir (rope) is made from matured (11-month-old) coconut fruit.

While thanking Dr Thampi, Ms Charlton said that the correction has been entered in the “revision file” of the Oxford English Dictionary to ensure that editors in charge of revising letter ‘C’ incorporate the change.

Natural fibre is known by the specific plant origin; as in jute, a fibre extracted from the jute plant and cotton extracted from cotton plant. While cotton and jute are cultivated exclusively for the fibre, coconut plant is mainly planted for its ‘nut’ and fibre is a by-product of the coconut husk.

It is an accepted practice in all natural fibres that the diversification of products is taken up at the fibre-level. ICAR has two institutes each for cotton and jute – one for variety-wise fibre quality study and the other for fibre technology development and innovation.

Dr Thampi lamented that this was not the case with coconut fibre R&D, which is at least 80 years behind other natural fibres in India. But the ICAR was busy setting this right with a project dealing with the basic study of coconut fibre R&D for high-value products.

Titled “A value chain for coconut fibre and its byproducts: Manufacture of diversified products of higher value and better marketability to enhance the economic returns of farmers”, the project would mark a beginning to concerted efforts at bringing coconut fibre on a par with other natural fibres, Dr Thampi said.

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