Agriculture Business Week

Woment members of the Buhi Ecuminical Development Association, Inc. (BEDAI) are making handicraft items out of water hyacinth (more popularly called water lily) from Lake Buhi in Camarines Sur. The products include table runners, placemats, canisters, bags, slippers and wall decors.

The BEDAI members are wives of farmers engaged in the development projects of the Department of Agriculture in the municipality. The members sought the help of the Department of Trade and Industry and a local non-government organization to start a local water-lily-based small to medium-size enterprise.

Considered a weed, the water hyacinth can live and reproduce while floating on the surface of freshwaters. The plant size ranges from 6 inches to 38 inches, depending on its growing condition. It can multiply very fast and could cause infestation of large areas of water in no time, creating various problems.

Posted on May 29th, 2010 under Special Report, Textile. Tags: Fiber, Hyacinth, Textile, Water, Water Hyacinth. Comments: 7

A 150-percent increase in disease-free abaca plantlets was recorded from tissue culture technique while 114 kilograms of dried fibers per day are produced by a portable stripping machine introduced to abaca farmers.

This was according to a team of researchers led by Dr. Ruben M. Gapasin of the National Abaca Research Center (NARC) as he presented the NARC-developed production and post-harvest technologies during the recently concluded National Conference on Natural Fibers held at Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City. He explained that with tissue culture techniques, or the growing and propagation of plant cells, tissues, and organs on an artificial medium under sterile and controlled environment, 124,518 virus-free abaca plantlets were produced from 500 suckers. Tissue-cultured plantlets are pegged at P4.50 each while plantlets from conventional breeding method sell at P8 to P10 apiece.

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Posted on April 6th, 2010 under Plant, Textile. Tags: Abaca, Fiber, Textile. Comments: 6

Researchers at the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) urge manufacturers to prevent mildew attack on export products made from seagrass, sedge, and unopened leaf of buri palm.

PTRI researchers recommend applying commercially available mildewcide on furniture, houseware, fashion accessories and other products made from indigenous fibers such as tikiw (Rhynchospora corymbosa), bangkuang (Actinoscirpus grossus), and raffia (Corypha elata). According to the researchers, treatment with mildewcides may be done either to raw materials or the fibers or to the products before any finishes are applied.

In a study conducted by PTRI, fibers soaked in mildewcide solution for 10 minutes, drained and dried for two hours, and stored in an incubator, simulating the conditions of products in transit to other countries, showed no visible signs of mildew.

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Posted on April 5th, 2010 under Textile. Tags: Fibers, Mildew, Textile. Comments: 1

Saba, Lakatan, and Bongolan bananas could be considered additional or alternative to Cavendish fibers as source of raw materials for textile manufacture.

In the study conducted by a senior science research specialist at the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) on the potential of fibers from the trunks of six banana cultivars—Saba, Lakatan, Bongolan, Pakil, Saksik, and Tordan—for textile production, Saba shows potential for high fiber yield based on this cultivar’s low residual gum content. Ms. Marites S. de Leon, the researcher, explained that the residual gum content is one of the major considerations in assessing cellulosic fiber’s suitability for textile use. She stressed that fiber with very high gum content will not be economically viable for textile use because such fiber will require higher pretreatment inputs to attain the desired gum content level which results in low fiber yield. Among the six cultivars, Saba fibers have residual gum content close to that of the Cavendish fibers, which have been identified as suitable for textile purposes. The residual gum content of Bongolan and Lakatan, although significantly different from that of the Cavendish, is still within the acceptable gum content range.

In terms of strength, results of the study show that Lakatan was the strongest among the six cultivars, with mean tensile strength even higher than that of the Cavendish.

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Posted on April 5th, 2010 under Fruits, Textile. Tags: Banana, Bongolan, Fiber, Lakatan, Saba, Textile. Comments: None

The technology to commercially tap three nontraditional sources of natural fiber has been developed by the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI), an agency of the Department of Science and Technology headed by Dr. Carlos Tomboc.

The three sources are maguey, saluyot and water hyacinth better known locally as water lily. Products made of these natural fibers were showcased last Wednesday at the national conference on natural fibers held at a Makati hotel.

The products include materials for making barong, lady’s dresses, handbags, home decors, accessories and many other products made of fabric. The fibers can also be manufactured into nonwoven fabrics which have various applications in industry like insulating or sound-proofing materials in rooms and car interiors.

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Posted on December 4th, 2009 under Textile. Tags: Fiber, Hyacinth, Textile, Water Hyacinth. Comments: 1

Catarman, Northern Samar – Unknown to many, the abaca produced by the small farmers in Northern Samar and Leyte provinces are the best abaca fiber in the world and it has a good market, said a prominent businessman here.

Alex Tan, president of the Philippine Abaca Fiber Exporters Association, said the abaca fibers produced by the small farmers from the remote towns of Northern Samar and Leyte provinces have the best quality of abaca and it is known worldwide as the best abaca in the world.

The Bicol region is second only in terms of abaca production and quality of abaca fiber, Tan said.

Tan said he will be presenting the quality of the best abaca of Eastern Visayas during the international convention on fibers at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila come October 22 which will be attended by international businessmen.

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Posted on October 18th, 2009 under Plant, Textile. Tags: Abaca, Fibers, Plants, Textile. Comments: 1

The stalks of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) are a viable natural source of alternative textile material, according to the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI).

Researchers at PTRI are studying water hyacinth fibers as raw material for the manufacture of clothing and home fabrics. Processing the fibers with polyester staples initially produced blended yarns with 20–35 percent water hyacinth component. The stalks went through a series of chemical and mechanical treatment to achieve the crimp property of wool for better processing, reduce the plant’s glue-like or gum content, and soften the fibers to make them fine and fit for knitting and weaving into apparel and other home textiles.

For a yarn count of 15 Ne suitable for apparels, blends of 80/20 and 65/35 of polyester/water hyacinth fibers were used. The same blends of polyester/water hyacinth fibers were used to get a yarn count of 10–12 Ne ideal for home textiles such as curtains, upholstery, table runners, napkins, bed cover, pillow case, and other items found at home.

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Posted on August 31st, 2009 under Plant, Textile. Tags: Fiber, Textile, Water Hyacinth. Comments: 33

Experts from the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) have designed a unique picking mechanism that will enable a handloom to simultaneously weave two narrow fabrics of different designs with selvedges on both sides of the fabrics.

Based on trials conducted in the PTRI Pilot Plant, the device which was developed by Caridad M. Cuchon and Jovita M. Hayin can increase production output by up to 160 percent.

The double sley picker is beneficial in producing narrow-width fabric for shawls, placemats, table runners and other accessories. The major constraint in weaving these novelties is that most of the weavers use the 40-inch width handloom regardless of the width of the fabric they have to produce.

The researchers cited that almost 50 percent of the loom’s productive capacity is wasted when weaving a 20inch fabric in a 40-inch loom. It’s because most of the weavers weave a 40-inch fabric open at the middle to be cut afterwards to produce two narrowwidth fabrics. The cut portion is then sewn to prevent unraveling.

“Obviously, the fabric will not speak of the noveltiness of a customized handwoven piece but looks simply, like a swatch taken out and sewn from a mechanically produced wider material,” the researchers said

The device features central shuttle box, which releases and receives the shuttles alternately from each side of the beater to facilitate formation of the inner selvedges of two narrow fabrics. The central shuttle box can be easily attached to any ordinary 40-inch upright loom and be removed with relative ease to wave a wide fabric

Posted on February 20th, 2009 under Textile. Tags: Fabric, Handloom, Textile. Comments: 3