An industry now rides on coir pith

Coir pith, until recently considered a mere waste, is now emerging as a source of livelihood for many farmers in East Godavari district. Farmers did not have any idea as to what to do with it and how to dispose it and were more than willing to give it all away for free. That was two years back.

Today, many young entrepreneurs in the district see a lucrative business opportunity in coir pith.

East Godavari being rich in coconut cultivation saw the setting up of the first such coir pith brick industry both for export and local consumption in I Polavaram mandal.

The district accounts for more than 60 per cent of the total coconut production in Andhra Pradesh. Of the estimated 1,129 million nuts produced in Andhra, a good portion is partially de-husked and transported to other states. Husk equivalent to 722 million nuts is available for industrial purposes here.

Coir pith is obtained during the extraction of coir fibre from husk. A multi-utility product, coir pith has a high lignin (31 per cent) and cellulose (27 per cent) and a carbon-nitrogen ratio of 104:1. It can absorb water 5-6 times of its weight and store it for 25-40 days. When dried, it is used in making bricks, which are used extensively in horticulture for its water storage properties. This system of providing moisture to plants though coir bricks is widely practised in countries like the US, UK, the Netherlands, Korea, Japan and the Gulf.

Realising the potential of this business, many entrepreneurs are now joining the business. But there is a catch.

A unit needs a minimum of 3 acres to dry up coir pith. With the land cost going through the roof, entrepreneurs are finding it difficult to buy land. Though the rising price of coir pith is cheering up the farmers, for the entrepreneurs it has made the going tough.

In recent times, the price of coir pith has doubled to Rs 400 per two tonnes. "Rising prices of land and coir pith have become a stumbling block in setting up of this industry,'' says Phani Bhushan, who is himself planning to set up a unit in Ravulapalem.

Moreover, the presence of middlemen in the business also irks some. Y Muralikrishna, who runs SV Coir Exports at Yedida village of Mandapet mandal in EG, says, "We should be able to sell our products directly to customers as the presence of middlemen leaves us with very little margin."

The 25-year-old entrepreneur, who has also done an in-depth study of coir-based industries, feels that the coir board should educate entrepreneurs in marketing their products besides offering them the technical know-how.

So huge is the demand that now even traders from Tamil Nadu are buying coir pith from the farmers in EG district.

"Traders from Tamil Nadu are approaching us with higher prices. Naturally, we are tempted to sell our products to them," says N Murali a coir pith dealer from Amlapuram.