Dimapur, March 10 (MExN): Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH), Medziphema organized a one day training on ‘pineapple fibre extraction’ at Molvom village, Dimapur on March 8. The training was held to promote utilization of agro-waste leaves of pineapple for fibre extraction as a means of self employment and for additional income for farmers since pineapple is cultivated in large scale at the village, according to a press release.
Arvind Singh, technical consultant who was the resource person highlighted that pineapple leaf contains 2.5-3.5 % fibre which is high textile grade commercial fibre and is graded between jute and cotton. It has all the textile properties capable of blending with jute, cotton and other synthetic fibres. He also deliberated that significant amount of succulent green biomass debris left after scrapping can be utilized successfully for vermicomposting to make total integrated system economically viable as pineapple leaves are not even suitable for cattle feed. Practical demonstration for selection of raw materials and leaf fibre extraction by fibre extractor machine was also conducted. Arvind Singh also mentioned that the same machine can be used for extraction of banana fibre.
Altogether about 100 pineapple growers from the village participated in the training programme.
