KOCHI: Coir Board is promoting coir geotextiles and other coir products in new markets like Latin American countries in the context of the international year of natural fibre declared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Geneva recently.
Coir geotextiles would be an economic substitute to synthetic geotextiles for protecting the embankments in extensive mining fields in countries like Chile, according to Coir Board chairman VS Vijayaraghavan, who had participated in the four-day ‘India Show 2009’ in Santiago.
Since Chile had restrictions on felling forest wood, Mr Vijayaraghavan felt the country would find a good market in coir ply and coir composite board which are used as substitute for wood. The board is also eyeing the markets of Brazil and other South American countries.
Extensive laboratory tests conducted at the Central Coir Research Institute in India had proved its effectiveness in erosion control measures, he said.
The member countries of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) had evinced keen interest in substituting synthetic geotextiles with coir geotextiles because of its bio-degradable properties. India exports over 3,000 tonnes of coir geotextiles annually.
Source : The Economic Times