The Hindu Business Line : Curbs on peat moss mining may buoy coir pith exports

RESTRICTIONS on mining of peat moss in foreign countries coupled with the growing demand for a natural substitute to it could pave the way for largescale export of coir pith from India.

Exploitation of peat moss for horticultural purposes in New Zealand, Ireland and the Baltic countries has been facing stiff opposition from the environmentalists, as it has resulted in destruction of wetland in these countries.

Given this situation, coir pith, also known as coco peat, a natural soil conditioner could become the best and suitable substitute to peat moss, according to a senior Coir Board official here.

Though there had been a substantial increase in its export in recent years, it had yet to tap the full potential in the world market, he told Business Line. Though India produces about five lakh tonnes of coir pith per annum so far, it could utilise only about 10 to 20 per cent of the potentialities of the coir pith export market, he said.

The world demand for coir pith is growing at the rate of 15 per cent per annum and over 75 per cent of the supply to the world market is currently emanating from Sri Lanka. Lack of knowledge and capital investment in this segment is pointed out as a major impediment.

According to Mr P.M. Prabhu, an expert, coir pith is an excellent organic soil conditioner widely used in western countries for horticulture, floriculture and gardening. It is used for growing vegetables and lawns. It could replace all kinds of chemical pith and peat moss.

There is great demand for pith products in countries such as Holland, France, the UK, Australia, Israel, the US and the Gulf countries. India, which produces five lakh tonnes of coir pith annually, could have a monopoly in the world market provided the individual small-scale coir fibre manufacturers are apprised of its potential.

So far, no significant effort had been made to set up pith processing units in Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, which produce 70 per cent of coir pith in its numerous fibre mills, the official said.

According to a report, out of the 77 coir-pith processing units in the country, 73 are in Tamil Nadu and hence there is ample scope for setting up of such processing units in other coir producing States.

India's export of coir pith, which was just two to three containers a month in 1994, has grown to 13,725 tonnes worth Rs 10.14 crore in 2001-02 and to 21,064.20 tonnes worth Rs 14.93 crore in 2002-03. During April-February 2003-04, export of coir pith, which had hitherto been considered as a waste creating environmental problems, stood at 24,349 tonnes worth Rs 16.83 crore.

According to industry sources, most of the exports taking place are in compressed form without any value addition. In fact, coir pith gets converted into value-added end products by multi-national companies in countries such as Holland and elsewhere for re-export.

The sector lacks well-equipped laboratories and qualified personnel to undertake research on diversification of pith-based product and to ensure quality control in general. Also, the industry has not exploited the adequate potential that exists for this product for farming in several parts of the country like Rajasthan.

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