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The word ‘Coir’, which represents the livelihood of 3.75 lakh of
Keralites - is having a history of centuries. The Sangha Era
writings have the references of coir in its greater writings
like ‘Puranannoor’ ‘Pathittupathe’ etc. The writings of Marco
Polo who visited Kerala during 13th Century contain the
references of coir from Kerala. Two British-Irish investors
established first organised manufacturing factory in coir sector
in 1860 at Alappuzha. Hence coir is the lone traditional
industry which can claim the glory of “National Industry of
Kerala”.
The coir industry is also having the privilege of highest gender
representation - about 3.75 lakh workers of which 80 per cent
are women. It supports the rural economy of Kerala. The industry
is going through a crisis due to several factors including those
arising out of globalisation and free market economy. The
absence of result-oriented product diversification efforts, lack
of direction and focus in R&D, absence of a healthy private
-public partnership in growth strategy etc., have added to the
statement in the industry. The industry like any other
traditional one such as handlooms, jute etc. need government
support for the growth and development of the industry in such a
way as to generate better result.
The major task of the state government was to draw comprehensive
roadmap for the integrated and sustained development of this
sector. It began from the scheme for establishing new defibering
mills to alleviate the raw material scarcity to the development
of new market fronts and research and development activities
both market oriented and product oriented.
The government conducted a census in coir sector to identify the
status of the industry and on the basis of that a coir
commission was set up to study and render appropriate
suggestions to modernise and recognise the industry in a phased
manner.
The major activities include establishment of new defibering
mills to produce maximum raw material within the state; the
existing defunct defibering mills are also reviving by extending
financial and technical support.
The removal of minimum purchase price of semi-finished coir
products introduced as per purchased price enforcement Scheme
and the minimum export price have led to unhealthy trends in t
he industry resulting in over exploitation of workers. The
middle-man turned as depot agents, broken the ties between the
real small manufacturers and exporters and in this process poor
manufacturers could not gain any benefits out of his hard labour
and investment and the workers were denied of fair wages. This
led to anarchism in the industry and frequent industry-wide
strikes made the foreign importers feel unsafe in procuring
finished products and gradually compelled them to look for
alternatives. This was the situation three years back. Now the
entire scenario is changed harmoniously due to the intervention
by the present government. The Government of Kerala evolved a
purchased price stabilisation scheme ensuring fair price to
small-scale producers and timely delivery to exporters with a
subsidised price. The system works well with the financial
support of the state government.
To address non-tariff barriers in international trade, like
certification for environment friendliness and social
friendliness to improve the perceived price and quality, to
enable market segmentation and facilitate market immunity to
market volatile, the products are positioned through USP
preferably geographical and socio - economic indicators. The
eco-friendly value of coir needs to be persecuted in a
convincing manner to create market segments and to sustain the
growth. An umbrella coir brand, like 'Kerala Coir' have been
created and promoted in a standalone version. The Government of
Kerala decided for a brand building campaign and a brand logo
was conceived as ‘Kerala Coir Golden Yarn of God’s own country’
.
The coir yarn and products that are manufactured by the primary
coir societies and small -scale producers are marketed through
out the country. As these products are to be transported to the
far-flung markets, one of the main components of cost is the
transportation. In order to compete with the products from other
natural fibres like jute, the price of coir yarn and coir
products is to be competitive. Synthetic products, especially in
North India, where coir yarn had a good market previously,
replace most of the coir yarn usages. The overwhelming cost of
transportation made it costlier. The other natural products like
jute, etc. already enjoy the privilege of this facility through
Mill Gate system. This traditional industry can be made vibrant
by penetrating the market for which cost should be competitive
by way of providing transportation subsidy. The Government have
evolved a scheme for this and Rs. 10 crore is provided towards
price fluctuation fund.
The major recommendation of the commission is time- bound
modernisation of the industry to recapture its lost hegemony. It
needs establishment of a full-fledged engineering factory for
the development and manufacturing of all machinery required in
coir sector. It also recommends replacing the outdated machines
with modern ones. In addition to this, the fibre extraction
capacity of workers etc. No private investment is forthcoming in
the case of value added products such as coir composites and
products made with jute-coir blends, due to the factors such as
heavy investment, uncertain market response etc. This requires
intervention of the state and realizing the situation the
government provided funds for creating manufacturing facilities
for the above with central assistance. The jute-coir blend in
the appropriate ratio provides characteristics that can find
unlimited applications in quality handlooms, power looms etc.
and spinning sector need immediate modernisation and sustained
improvements in the areas of productivity, quality, wages,
earning.
The State Government Have Set Up National Coir Research And
Management Institute (NCRMI) To Carry Out Commercially
Significant R & D Projects Like Better Technology For Spinning,
Fibre Extraction, Geo-textiles Applications, Development Of
Value
Added And Innovative Products Etc.
The coir composites are excellent building materials and compete
well with bamboo ply etc. and if it is promoted well large-scale
consumption of Coir Matting can be ensured. It is also wood
substitute and helps reduce deforestation. It is proposed to
create manufacturing facilities at Alappuzha for the production
of jute-coir blended yarn and the coir composites. The
Government have taken steps for establishing a coir machine
manufacturing factory at Alappuzha.
The state Government have set up National Coir Research and
Management Institute (NCRMI) to carry out commercially
significant Research and Development projects like better
technology for spinning, fibre extraction, geo-textiles
applications, development of value added and innovative products
etc. The Research and Development facilities elsewhere like CCRI
and public sector undertaking etc will not be duplicated. This
will be a centre of excellence in the R & D activities related
to natural fibre across the world.
The major intervention of the government is in establishing a
strong base for domestic market while protecting and encouraging
the existing export segment. More than 600 new outlets are
opened in the rural areas of the state with the help of Service
Co-operative Banks. The Government organised a campaign in the
state with a slogan ‘Oru Veettil’ ‘Oru Coirulpannam’ (one coir
products in each home).The result is encouraging. The
Co-operative outlets, Kudumbasree movement, public sector
undertakings etc. were involved with the campaign. The Coir PSUs
made a remarkable achievement and it exceeded 300 per cent high
to previous years' corresponding period. Inspiring from this
boom, now the coir department is planning to establish 10000
outlets all over India.
The traditional coir industry is passing through a metamorphosis
of modernisation and pro-labour innovations during the tenure of
this state government.
G. Sudhakaran
Kerala Minister for Co-operation & Coir
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