The story
Pollachi is one of South India's largest coconut-growing belts, with a busy market for copra and tender coconut. Husks that were once burned became the raw material for mechanised coir fibre units from the 1990s. Coir pith, compressed into blocks, found a large export market as a soil-less growing medium. The coir units are linked to the Tamil Nadu coir clusters supported by the state and the Coir Board.
In numbers
Coco-pith prices fell from ₹27 per kg to ₹9 and coconut fibre from ₹12 to ₹7 per kg, according to the National Coir Federation's president.
Pollachi's coir units in distress amid industry's continuous downward spiral — DT NextIn January 2020 Tamil Nadu approved a ₹7.98 crore cluster project for Pollachi coir units, with a state share of ₹5.77 crore; 33 units joined the special purpose vehicle to make tufted mats and geo-textiles.
Tamil Nadu coir units to make items under cluster project — Fibre2Fashion · 2020
Ways in for a newcomer
- Coir pith blocks and grow bags for horticulture export
- Coir geo-textiles for road and slope work
- Coconut products: desiccated coconut, virgin oil, coconut water
- Husk aggregation and fibre trading
Problems the cluster faces
- Export price crashes in China and other markets
- Pollution complaints over open drying of pith
- Falling groundwater hurts coconut yields
- Power and labour costs
Businesses to start here
Coir Pith Block Making →Coir Fibre Extraction →Coir Pith Grow Bag Making →Curled Coir Rope Production →Coir Yarn Spinning (Automatic Machines) →Desiccated Coconut Powder →Coconut Oil and Oil Cake Unit (Ghani) →Packaged Tender Coconut Water (PET Bottles) →