“Abaca” Fibre in Textile and Engineering Fields

-Mr. D Kumar,

“Abaca” fibre is multiple celled, rich in cellulose and bonded by lignin. Cross markings are rare and fibre tips pointed and flat, ribbon like individual fibre diameter range from 14 to 50 microns and the length from 0.25 cm to 1.3 cm. This fibre “Abaca” belongs to musa sapientum species and it is none other than “banana” fibre. India’s banana production is 23% of world’s production which is the largest in the world. Increasing demand of eco-friendly clothing in developed countries like Europe, USA and Canada, rise in per capita requirement of textile / garments, preference in using natural fabric over synthetic fabric in hot and humid tropical and sub tropical climates, view to replace the energy intensive synthetic fibres like glass and carbon particularly in the composite manufacture and cheap cost involved in the production of the fibre boost the demand for banana fibre.

Presently, waste banana stems pose problem of disposal and are available almost free of cost in many parts of our country. The use of banana fibre for textile and other purpose as natural material is a new concept for India. This can be executed by setting a facility for fibre extraction from waste stem, cleaning, grading and converting it up to finished readymade garment. This natural plant fibre also known to be carbon neutral with high strength can be blended easily with cotton fibre or other synthetic fibres to produce blended fabric & textiles. It is mainly used by cottage industry in Southern India at present. Banana fibre also finds use in high quality security/currency paper, packing cloth for agriculture products, ship towing ropes, wet drilling cables, composite materials for automotives, etc.

 Though considerable research work has been done on this fibre by textile research organizations including BITRA, CITRA, KVIC (Khadi Village Industry Corporation) and NRCB (National Research Centre for Banana-Trichy), let us also join our hands in making this fibre a very promising source of natural fibre in future and make India a cleaner greener and economically grown country.

                                                                           -Mr. D Kumar, Professor