Coir is a natural fibre produced from the husk of coconut which is abundantly available in the coconut growing States of India like Kerala. Coir fibre is extracted through a traditional retting process and from the unretted husk, it is extracted through a mechanical process. Its development as an industry in India commenced in the State of Kerala centuries ago. Two ply coir yarn was spun either by hand or spinning wheels throughout the coastal belt of Kerala from time immemorial. The breathtakingly beautiful lakes and lagoons of Kerala have been natural allies of the coir sector. Coir yarn is the raw material for the manufacture of an array of furnishing products like mats, mattings, rugs, carpets etc. Growth of technology in the sector is resulting in the development of a larger diversity of products. Coir is a fibre with intrinsic strength of multi-cellular fibre giving it the toughness and brushing quality, unlike competing fibres. Today, coir offers a range of options from live-in-style products to geo-applications. The potential of rubberised coir products like matresses, furniture/vehicle upholstery and insulation pads is immense. Due to natural edge and a skilled workforce in Kerala, Indian coir caught global attention for its colour, texture, eco-friendliness , bio degradability etc. earning for it a premium price in international markets.

A Brief History of Coir

• About A.D. 60, a Greek sailor wrote about a coconut-producing East African village whose boats were made of planks sewn together with coconut fibers. By the eleventh century, Arab traders were teaching people in Sri Lanka and India how to extract and process coconut fibers.
• In 1859 James Darragh and Henry Smail established the first coir manufacturing firm in Alleppey, that led other to follow suit, primarily from Britain and the Netherlands.
• 1947 saw the dissolution of a number of large factories, with laid-off workers being given machinery as part of their retrenchment package. This was the start of the coir cottage industry, that continues to dominate the production model today.
• Coir production changed little until efforts to mechanize it began in the middle of the twentieth century. In India, a defibering machine was invented in 1950. Because mechanization would eliminate a significant number of jobs, it is being introduced gradually.
• In the past decade, coir processing in Europe and other developed countries has largely stopped, with most manufacturing now being undertaken in India. However, though India continues to dominate the global coir market, competition is on the rise from South East and East Asia.

Coir products are made from fibre from the husks of coconuts, using for the most part production techniques that barely changed in the past century. Traditional products have mainly revolved around the production of mats and matting:

• Mats. Largely door mats, mats are made from a mix of coir yarn (as the base) and rough fibres (as bristles).
• Matting. Woven matting from coir yarn is done on handlooms and used in interiors of houses, commercial spaces, and ships. Semi-automated and fully-automated (or 'power') looms have been more recently introduced.

Traditionally a cottage industry, the coir sector has more recently been undergoing substantial changes as more capital intensive products are coming on-line. Non-coir inputs are also increasingly being used, with coir accounting for only 60% of the total product. New products include:

• Geo-textiles. Similar to coir matting, geo-textiles have a looser weave and are used outside for erosion control ('pre-vegetative protection').
• Rubberized coir. Using another important Kerala commodity, 'rubberized' products include products that combine coir and rubber (such as a coir mat with a rubber trim or backing) or blend the coir fibre itself with rubber (such as coir-rubber composites for car seat stuffing).
• PVC mats. One of the latest changes in coir production, PVC are mats are made from coir fibre brushes adhered onto a PVC base (or 'seat').
• Mixed products. The Alappuzha floor-coverings cluster is increasingly incorporating non-coir inputs into its products. Aside from rubber and PVC, inputs also include jute, sisal and cotton.

Production Processes Many coir production processes have not changed in over a century. However, increased mechanization is happening, particularly with regard to fibre extraction and weaving.

The process begins with the coconut seed being stripped of its hard outside layer skin and a 2-3 inch intermediate layer of fibrous pulp, the husk. Fibres from the husk form coir. Extracting the fibres initially requires that the husk is broken down through a process of 'retting.' This is a curing process, during which the husk partially decomposes, allowing it to be separated into coir fibers and a residue called coir pith. This used to take 6-9 months, but is now accomplished in less than 10 days. The fibres are then separated through beating. This used to be done manually, but is now done mechanically. The fibre is then spun into yarn, using labor intensive techniques that have experienced little mechanization in Alappuzha. The yarn and raw fibres are then bleached or dyed (if necessary) and used to make both mats and matting. These are usually woven on hand-operated looms, though recent years have witnessed increased automation. The final coir products are then sold in both domestic and international markets.

 

 

Value Chain

The coir value chain includes a wide variety of SMEs, from micro-enterprises and women's self-help groups that spin yarn, to small-scale businesses that weave matting, to large exporters who sell to global retailers. The diagram below depicts the main actors involved in the production process, that begins with the coir fibre producers (and, of increasing importance, non-coir suppliers) and ends with both global and domestic retailers.