Good quality fibre from trees
the genetic make-up of banana and plantain varieties grown in India indicates they can yield good quality fibre in abundance, according to scientists from the National Research Centre for Banana in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.
"India has an enormous potential to develop an industry based on banana fibre. The raw material is freely available and an industry based on banana fibre would increase rural employment," the scientists, led by S Uma, said. India accounts for almost a quarter of the global banana production. Its cultivation could yield up to 2.8 million tonnes of fibre annually.
Apart from the paper and pulp industry, banana fibre can be used to make handicrafts and textiles, and products such as tea bags. In Japan, the fibre is used to make currency notes as it exhibits superior tear resistance.
The study analysed six commercial cultivars that account for half of the 600,000 hectares (ha) under banana cultivation in the country. The study was published recently in Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (No 142).
All banana and plantain cultivars can be represented as a combination of two genomes -- a and b. The scientists said that fibre yield varies greatly depending on their genomic status. While both a and b genomes contribute to biomass production, genome b plays a special role in making the plant strong and bulky (yielding more fibre and cellulose). The major Indian cultivars belong to three genome groups such as aaa, aab and abb.
According to the scientists, the cellulose content -- an index of fibre quality -- in banana fibre was comparable to that in other fibrous plants that are commercially exploited such as jute and mesta.
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