Skip to main content

Alternative to Wood Developed



 FEATURE

MSME



                                                                                Jacob Abraham*


            All over the world hard wood becomes a scarce commodity.  The furniture manufacturers are vigorously searching for an ecofriendly alternative to wood.  The National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) at Thiruvananthapuram, a constituent laboratory of CSIR has developed the technology to make wood substitute from natural fibre polymer composites.  It has been a pioneer in the research of natural fibre - composites for more than two decades.

            
The natural fibre polymer composite christened as 'Polycoir' developed by NIIST has been found suitable substitute for wood.  The composite material utilizes coir fibre all other natural fibres such as coir, jute and sisal.


            According to Director, NIIST there is great potential for using many unutilized lingo-cellulose fibre for making composite material.  The material can be manufactured as per our requirement.  It possess several unique properties such as resistance to fibre, termites and water.  Surface properties and physical and mechanical properties can be finetuned as per requirement. 

            The NIIST has signed an MoU with the Kerala Furniture Consoritium Pvt Ltd (KFCPL) to commercialise the technology.

            Located at Perumbavoor, Ernakulam district, the consortium is one of the seven innovation clusters benchmarked by National Innovation Council under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda.  It is a common facility centre to pursue seasoning, designing, standardisation, testing and finishing of rubber wood for manufacturing furniture. 

            KFCPL as an innovation cluster, of national importance is dedicated to develop patented alternate substitutes for the scarce forest hard wood as part of its stringent environment policy.  The cluster is destined to boost innovation and competition even in MSME sector in the state by upgrading the qualities of the furniture and related industry business environment
            Under the MoU the coir composite developed by NIIST will be adopted by the furniture consortium as a substitute to hard wood.  Further technical development required for commercialisation of fibre composites will be undertaken by NIIST and KFCPL.

            The composite will be metamorphed by KFCPL into unique design formats of furniture and accessories on market requirements.  According to the Managing Director of KFCPL, the consortium has plans to bring out a range of knock down furniture series using this material during this financial year.    


(PIB Features.)
*****

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Folk Dances of India

India is a land of diverse cultures and traditions. Each region of the country has a unique culture, which is also prominently visible in its various art forms. Almost all the regions of the country have their specific folk music and dance, which proves to be a wonderful way of expression of their community and its traditions. Though these folk dances are not as complex as the classical dance forms, they are very beautiful, because of the essence of rawness in them. Be it the Bihu of Assam, Dol-Cholom of Manipur, Hikal of Himachal Pradesh or Chhau of Bihar, each of the Indian folk dance forms comes across as a reflection of the deep sited beliefs and traditions of a particular culture. The folk dances of any community are performed on almost every special occasion and festival, to express elation and joy. These dances are also considered to be auspicious by many of the tribal communities in the country. Many folk dances are dedicated to the presiding deity of the specific commu...

Anthropology-I, 2011

Civil Services (Main) Examination - 2011 Anthropology Paper I Time Allowed : Three Hours Maximum Marks : 300   Candidates should attempt Questions no. 1 and 5 which are compulsory, and any three of the remaining questions selecting at least one question from each Section. SECTION A 1. Write short notes on the following in about 150 words each: 15*4=60      a) Synthetic Theory         b) Neanderthal Man         c) Fieldwork Tradition in Anthropology         d) Cultural Materialism 2. a) Describe major skeletal similarities and differences between Homo erectus    and Homo sapiens . 30     b) 'Man is a primate.' Discuss. 30 3. a) Critically examine the contribution of Anthropologists in the interpretation of symbols. 30     b) Critically examine the debate between Formalists and Substantiv...

India 2012 - A must buy

INDIA- 2012 by Publication Division A book that is mandatory to have...!!!! Much awaited book of the year India-2012 was finally out on february 27,2012.It covers all important areas regarding this country such as science and technology,defence,agriculture etc... As it is published by govt of India(ministry of Information and broadcasting,department of publication division)the information in this book is more genuine that any other book. for the people who are preparing for competitive exams(especially for UPSC exams)this book will be very useful.It is more better than having any other gk book.so friends order your copy and start reading... Book Summary of India 2012 India 2012 Reference Annual gives a comprehensive view of country's progress in the field of rural and urban development, industry and infrastructure, science and technology, art and culture, economy, health, defence, education and mass communication. The Reference Annual incorporates sections on gene...