Kerala bets on indigenous microbes to make the traditional coir sector cleaner and greener

Synopsis : Kerala’s age-old coir industry is poised for a scientific makeover with the Directorate of Coir Development, in collaboration with the NCRMI, set to roll out a pioneering project to replace the traditional, water-intensive retting process with a sustainable microbial alternative that uses naturally occurring bacteria and yeasts to efficiently separate fibre.

Kerala’s age-old coir industry — the state’s pride and a livelihood source for over 1.5 lakh workers, most of them women — is poised for a scientific makeover.

The Directorate of Coir Development, in collaboration with the National Coir Research and Management Institute (NCRMI), is set to roll out a pioneering project titled ‘Harnessing Indigenous Microbiota: Developing a Product for Ret Liquor Recycling’.

The initiative