CHAPTER - 111 IMPACT ON COST OF PRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the cost elements involved in the production of coir and

coir products at various stages viz. retting, defibring, spinning and weaving. The cost of

traditional technology and the modem technology at various stages of production is

compared taking into account all the technological alternatives available.

At retting stage, the cost of traditional retting in back waters and the modem rett

plus techniques are compared. In defibring the traditional manual defibring and the

mechanixd defibring viz., decorticating machine for retted husks and combing machine

for the raw husks are compared. In spinning process, the cost of spinning under the

traditional method and the mechanised methods viz, treadle ratt, motorised ratt, and

automatic spinning machines are compared. In the weaving stage the cost effectiveness of

handloom weaving and p w e r loom weaving are compared. This chapter also deals with

the utilisation of coir pith and the change in the work environment due to modemisation

involving mechanisation of the industry.

The question of availability of husk, which forms the raw material for the coir

~ndustry, has several interesting dimensions. While cultivation of coconuts is widespread

In Kerala, only a portion of them is delivered to the coir industry. The husk finds

miscellaneous uses in and around the household. Collection of husk is very difficult

because coconut is grown in innumerable small hornateads. Therefore, it is collected

through a long chain of traders, small and big, tending to increase the husk price. Further,

spinning industry is concentrated in southern Kerala' despite greater utilisation of husk

for industry (as much as 60 to 75 per cent), there is an absolute deficit of husk. The

76

market 'limit' on output price does not allow drawing in surplus husk from northern

Kerala or Tamil Nadu incurring high freight on the bulky material.

A major share of the paddy fields is being recently converted for growing

coconuts. Some of the newly planted area use hybrid varieties, and supported by

irrigation, produces coconuts of bigger size. Area under coconut cultivation increased

from 8,63,000 hectares to 10,20,000 hectares between 1991 -92 and 1997-98. Production

increased from 4.641 million nuts to 5,911 million nuts. '

Though coconut production has increased, the production of coir fibre and yarn

has not shown any spectacular increase. Over 20 years, coir fibre production in India (of

which a major share is of Kerala) increased by a mere 14,600 tonnes from 150000 tonnes

in 1961-62 to 164000 tonnes in 1984-85. Production of coir yam in fact decreased during

this period - from 1,40.000 tonnes to 1,03,740 tomes2 Yet, the supply of husk for the

industry did not increase. An imponant reason seems to be the rise in price of fuel-wood.

This has caused its substitution with husk, reducing the supply of husk for the industry

and also raising the husk price. Scarcity of supply and "the problem of obtaining husk at

an economic price" still plague the husk market.

Technology

Traditionally. coconut fibre was extracted by retting the husk for eight to nine

months in the brackish water and then beating it with wooden rods. The fibre was then

spun into yarn by rolling between the palms. In the middle of 19 century, there was an

increase in the worlddemand for mats and matting. It was found that the demand for yam

I SPB, EcaMmu Review 1998. p.41

also rose significantly, which in turn demanded higher productivity in the yarn-spinning

sector. This necessitated the replacement of hand spinning with wheel spinning.

Technology followed in the defibring (including retting operations), however, continued

to be unchanged.

The 1990s presented a changed scenario, conducive for technological

reorganisation. The lack of steady employment in the industry, the higher level of

education attained by young women, the changed attitude to work, and the possibility of

alternate employment, in particular, in the booming consttuction and service sectors have

all contributed to a reduced preference for work in the coir industry. In this changed

context, trade union resistance to mechanisation vanished. Moreover, a steady stream of

expen studies conducted in recent years by state agencies has sough to emphasise

technological reorganisation as the only means of revitalisation of the industry in Kerala.

The ongoing State scheme of technological modemisation has been generated in

this context. The scheme aims at increasing productivity, wages and value-addition,

assuring steady employment, and reducing backwater pollution due to retting. It

envisages technological reorganisation of the important stages of production namely

retting. spinning and weaving.

Retting

Retting of green husks facilitates removal of water extractable components like

tannin from the husks. Retting refers to treatment of raw husk to loosen fibre from the

husk-shell and to ease its extraction. Exposure to air and sunlight leads to oxidisation of

' T.M.Thomu Iw, er drr quoted by K.T.Rammohan. Tahnologieal change in Kerala Indusny. C.D.S. TriMndrum. P.30

78

some of them into insoluble compounds. Therefore fibre extracted from dry husks even if

it is later soaked in water is inferior in colour, extensionability and tenacity.

Retting also facilitates the decomposition of the fibre binding substances.

Degeneration of the pith loosens the fibres and eases extraction. The major part of the

husk is softened after six months of retting. But the hard tips of the husk and the inner

layers of the exocarp will be fully softened only after nine months of retting. Periodic

flushing of rety liquors hastens the removal of polyphenols and creates a better

environment for speedier growth of micro-organisms. Continuous renewal of water on

the other hand adversely affects retting.

Traditional Method

Technological organisation of retting and defibring operations continued

unchanged. The biochemical process involved in retting was not fully understood then.

This ruled out the possibility of undertaking innovations to reduce the retting time. At the

beginning of this century, in Ceylon, a new technique of retting by sinking husk in tanks

of water w a n e d by steam was tried? This technique, however, was not quite successful.

Rening of coconut husk is done by immersing the husk in shallow water, in coir

nets or by putting them in muddy pits. This is done in the brackish backwater. Flushing

washes away the tannin and thus facilitated bacterial action. The fibre binding part is

decomposed in this process. Salinity of water lends strength to the fibre. A pole is fixed in

10 the bed of the backwater and husks are arranged one on top of the other in a circle. It is

then covered with mud, palm leaves and Cior net. Usually huge stones are kept on the top

SR Shum& Coif Spinning, 19 17. p7.

79

for weight to allow the husk bundle to sink in water. Each bundle having nearly ten

meters diameter and containing 10,000 husks is called a 'maali'.

It rquires four hours for four workers to finish this task. While male workers

make the maali, women workers carry raw husk to the backwater-side or the rened husk is

carried back to the site of defibring. I t remains in the brackish water for eight to ten

months for allowing the bacterial action. This natural bacteriological process was the only

available technology for retting.

Though several attempts have been made to develop alternatives to the natural

retting process, none of them was commercially viable. The biochemical process involved

in retting was not fully understood then. This ruled out the possibility of undertaking

innovations lo reduce the retting time. At the beginning of this century, in Ceylon, a new

technique of retting by sinking husk in tanks of water w m e d by steam was tried. This

technique did not prove successful. Hence crushing the husks before rening them

remained the only means of reducing the rening period. Crushing enabled a fater

penetration of water in to the husks and hence it takes only half of the time for retting.

tiowever, the cost of transpo~tation of husks to and from the crushing machine to the

retting place with nntural facility for traditional retting neutralised the savings resulting

from reduction of the rening period.

As the general standard of living of the society improved, the attitude of the

workers to the natural relting of coconut husk also changed. Workers became reluctant to

perfonn this job in the unhygienic surroundings. The traditional ~ t t i n g process being a

~ W C C of pollution to the lakes and lagoons, environmental consciousness is another

dehrcnt factor for the continuance ofthe traditional rening process.

The cost of 10,000 raw husks required for a maali is about Rs.6,000. Rent of

backwater space for a retting period is Rs 100 per rnaali. Coir net to cover the husk costs

Rs 100. The wage for preparing it and taking it out is Rs 600 each. The total cost is

amount Rs. 7,400 to make maali. This is excluding interest on capital. Normally a coconut

growing I trading household views it as a source of additional income and take up the

activity. The scale of maali-making would widely vary from entrepreneur to entrepreneur

depending on the financial resources, availability of husk from own grove, and extent of

backwater space. Rening for nine months results in the locking up of working capital.

The scale of operations will be determined by the scale of working capital at the

command of the entrepreneur. The low level of technology employed reduces the need for

investment in fixed capilal and expands the relative share of expenditure on working

capital. Further, the low level of technology implies slow production processes. As

capital gets locked up due to the long period required for retting, there is need for large

funds to keep production going. The retting time, however, is 7 to 8 months, which would

mean that the money is recovered only depending on the time of selling after this period.

The break down of cost of retting 1000 husks at the Anjengo yam area in

southern Kerala is given in Table 3.1

Table 3.1

Coot of retting 10,000 husks (a maali) in Anjengo area during 1997

Materids : Raw husk Coir net and other items Total cost of materials

r Takine out retted husk I 100 1 I

Wages :

/ Total labour cost 1 1 200 1

6,000 100

For immenin~ husk

/ Overheads: 1 1 1

6,100

100

Source: Field work

Pit charges Interest on working capital Total overheads Total cost of retted husk

As private retters do not keep proper accounts, cost details are collected from the

co-operatives. Therefore the price shoum being taken from the co-operative, it is likely to

be helow the actual market price. Similarly the inlerest on working capital at 9 percent is

also low. The resulting Iota1 cost is Rs. 7860 of which Rs. 6000 is the cost of raw husk

and the remaining Ks.1860 is the cost of retting. Even without the profit margin of the

retter it can be seen that retting increases the cost of the raw material by around 31

perccnt. In the traditional retting process even at a low rate of interest v i r nine percent,

the interest on working capital for nine months forms 33 percent of the retting cost.

'fierefore, efforts to reduce the ntting period seem to be the only possibility for the

reduction of raw materid cost.

The small producers rarely have the resources, furancial or land (and thus

backwater space), to undertake ntting. They buy retted husk on credit from traders and

100 460

560 7,860

settle credit when the yam is sold. Often they seek credit from traders to pay the weekly

wages too. The prices charged by the trader for husk include interest and profit. Earlier,

most of the small producers operated within a puttingaut system, receiving retted husk

from tradm and returning spun yam to them. The practice of obtaining fibre on credit,

mostly imported from Pollachi instead of retted husk, is on the rise. It is in this context

that a new technology was sought.

Technological Change in Retting Operation

In addition to the cost factor, there are a few other cases against the traditional

retting. The existence of backwater was necessary for traditional retting. Backwater

retting has many adverse ecological consequences. Retting in the traditional method

pollutes the air and water, in addition to the delay involved in the process. The foul smell

that has become a permanent feature in the coir producing villages due to backwater

rctting. Backwater retting has also been a major cause of depletion of fish stock in the

backwater prompting the fisher folk lo protest. "The environmental consciousness of the

people have grown as a threat to the retting operation itself. There are already some areas

where retting is not allowed at all." Tle ongoing technological change in retting also

addresses the ecological question.

After years of Research and Development, the Central Coir Research Centre has

developed a micro organism called Coir ret to reduce the retting period. For retting 5000

coconut husk four kilograms of "coir ren" is required. Thex micro-organisms grow in the

coconut husk. Therefore the retting process is faster using retplus. This reduction in the

retting period enables to reduce the cost of production and increase the production of

Ropwr of the Ninth PLn Tuk Force on traditional industries. p.15

83

coconut fibre. It also helps to improve the quality of fibre produced. Coir rett is used to

improve the q d i t y of fibre extracted from the green husk. Soaking the fibre extracted

from the g m n husk in a tank of water does this. After 12 hours of soaking fibre in water,

the water in the tank is removed. Then the tank is refilled with water and retplus is added

at the rate of fow kilograms for every tonne of fibre. Then after 48 hours of immersing the

fibre in the retplus dissolved water in the tank is drained. Then after 12 hours, the fibre is

taken out from the tank and dried in the sun. Thus after a total of 72 hours of treatment the

fibre extracted from the green husk turns to be similar to the retted fibre in quality and

appearance.

Considering the high investment required for the infrastructure required for

applying this new technology, it is definitely not cost effective. However, it is justified

for the following reasons, Instead of backwater rening of husk, mechanical extraction of

fibre from green husk followed by its treatment with bio-inoculants for improving the

quality of fibre is possible in the new technology. This is carried out in ground level

storage tanks filled with bio-inoculants enriched freshwater. This significantly reduces

rerting time and avoids pollution of backwaters. This also has a positive environmental

effect.

The new rening technique is expected to accelerate the turnover of working

capital and therefore Jave on its cost. At the same time it needs a huge amount of fixed

capital requirement which nullities the advantage in the cost of working capital. Co-

operatives an now in the course of introducing the new retting technique. The co-

operatives h v e sinking wells and installing electric pumpsets to draw fresh water.

Simultaneously, ground-level storage tanks are being built to conduct rening. There is

also a proposal 10 install refrigerators to safe-keep bio-inoculants.

Use of wir nt t can reduce the retting period to three days from the present period

of eight months. The brown fibre of inferior quality brought from Thenkashi, Pollachi.

etc, in Tamil Nadu, can be converted near to the quality of the white fibre by using the

retplus in a period of 72 hours. Coir rett reacts with the fibre and gives it the quality and

colour of the golden fibre we get from the retted husk. Coir board has taken steps to make

this available in all the Coir producing areas. All these enable the industry to supply the

products sensing demand without wasting time. This will help the industry to meet the

orders from abroad.

The mechanical extraction of fibre and soaking it in bio-inoculants save

subslantially on working capital and the cost of labour involved in traditional rening.

Hence this method helps the expansion of industrial utilisation of husks in northern part of

Kerala where adequate natural retting facilities are not available. Husk is a weigh loosing

type of raw material. Therefore, transporting them from far off places to the place of

retting is not economical. But the new retting technology enables the retting in any place

as it does not require any natural facility.

The technological reorganisation of rening operation scheme is projected as

capable of eliminating the adverse ecological consequences of retting altogether.

However, this new technique is now confined to the co-operative segment. Co-operatives

backed by State subsidy, may abandon backwater retting. But it is bound to continue in

the private sector at least for some more time. The private sector is pmducing an

insignificant share of y a m production. Of a total 3.83 lakh coir workers in the state 1.54

lekhs workas art employed in the private sector; It is indeed doubtful if private

Ploducers, especially Ule smaller producers, would be willing or capable of undertaking

the required investment in sinking wells, building storage tanks, and purchasing pump-

sets and refrigerators. Again, even within the co-operatives, no scheme has been drawn

up for treatment of disposal of water from the retting tanks.

A fundamental issue is that the backwater is being polluted and the fish resources

being depleted due to retting. The argument against the new technology in progress is that

it is water-intensive and makes new demands on the dwindling ground water resources.

Moreover, it is energy-intensive and capital intensive.

Deftbring denotes the extraction of fibre from the nned husk. The traditional

method of fibre extraction is by beating these retted husks with mallets against a stone or

wooden surface till the fibres separated from rotten pith. . Then, they are tom on roller

cylinders fitted with nails on the cylinder casing. To soften this fibre, it is passed through

a willowing machine. The willowing machine costs only Rs. 100. On an average a person

beats 150 retted husks a day. The scale of the defibring operation varies according to the

working capital capability of the producer. The main elements of this cost are raw

material and wages. The traditional manual extraction of fibre was a highly cumbersome

process. Furlher, only ntted husks can be processed manually.

Manual Dtflbring

The oficial minimum wage for manual delibring of 10,000 husks in the co-

operative sector in 1990 was Rs. 1960. Additional labour benefits such as bonus ESI etc

amount to mother 43% of the minimum wages. Thus the total cost of labour to manually

S t ~ c Plning BouQ Ewnomic Review 1998. p.110.

defibring 10,000 husks was about Rs.2800/-. However, minimum wages and full wages

are not paid to all workers. In reality the average prevailing cost of labour for defibring

1000 husks in 1990 was only around Rs. 1200.

Statement showing cost of delibring 10,000 husks

(at Official Rate)

Labour cost at Official rate 1.960.00

Other Labour benefits @ 43% 840.00

Total 2,800.00

However, the official rate is not actually followed. Therefore in the actual

situation cost of defibring in manual method is as given below.

Statement showing cost of defibring 10,000 h u s h

(at actual rate)

Labour cost at Official rate 1.200.00

Other Labour henefits @) 43% 516.00

Anempb to mcehrnbe defibring

The introduction of defibring machine was attempted, but met with disappointing

~ u l t s . MechPnical power q u i d to detibre coconut husks was high and unfavourable

when compared with the wages for defibring by hand. Labour was cheap. The

employment of 'lomr' and *out' castes, in particular women and children made it

cheaper. Momvet, the defibring mill tended to damage the fibrc. Except the shifl from

hand to wheel at spinning stage, technological organisation of coir yam spinning industry

remained ~naltend lo the a d of the colonial period. But at the port-town exporters'

adopted an important cost-saving technological change by using hydraulic presses for

baling. This helped to cut d o m freight by halt The first machine introduced for

defibring coconut husk in Kerala was called Kerala drurn.

Kernla Drum

A defibring machine for rened husk introduced in Kerala in the 1950s was called

the Kerala d m . It resembled the Cey Ion drurn and the paddy thresher used in Kuttanadu.

'The machine consisted of (I spiked metallic cylinder and two rollers, all connected by a

gear system and driven by electric motor. May be the social conditions did not exactly

require the new technology or because it had several drawbacks, the Kerala drum had

received indifferent spread. About 18 workers were required to keep the machine going;

its capacity was limited lo 4000 husks in eight hours; and the spiked drum was a cause of

anxiety-a tiny lapse, and the worker's hand could get sucked into the drum when feeding

the husk."

Though machinery for defibring retted husk had been available for a long period,

only six defibring mills were in existing in the whole of Kerala in 1955. A simple hand

rotated drums with blades was used for cleaning the coir slivers. However, 90 percent of

thex cleaning tools were confined lo only two .districts in Kerala namely

T h i r u v m w u r a m and Kollam. In all other districts in Kerala when fibre was

Produced, a simple stick or willow branch was used to beat and turn the fibre for fine

cleaning. 10,000 husks when rened and defibred yield 900-950 kgs of fibre. The output

varies depending on the retting time and the absorption of salinity.

Thm were renewed attempts to introduce defibring technology in the late 1960~1

1970s. This was a period when the demand for the product was high. The defibring mill

that was introduced was not an advanced type. It employed decorticating method.

Alternatively called beater. The decorticator consisted of a revolving drum with beater

rods and was driven by an electric motor. It could process only retted husks. The retted

husks were given a gentle beating and the outer skin is ripped of the husk.

State bra except in northern districts

The beaten were introduced at a time when the demand for the product was high.

At the same time this was a period that witnessed an employment crisis in the industry

due to shortage of husks. The workers feared that the spread of new technology would

aggravate the crisis of employment. Naturally, the attempt to introduce new technology

met with stiff resistance, from the workers. The State, therefore, intervened and

prohibited the use of beaters except in the northern districts where labour was not in

cxcess.

Shortage of husks met with fibre from Pollachi

All through the 1970s, the shortage of husks continued causing a hike in its price.

The problem of shortage of raw material was solved by importing fibre from Pollachi in

the neighbouring state. Pollachi had over h e time emerged as a centre of coconut

cullivation and coir fibre production through mechanical means. The husks available

within the State continued to be defibred by hand, employment was thus retained, and the

shortage was met through imported fibre.

More Beaten in Nortbern Districts

The import of fibre from Pollachi to Kerala to retain the level of employment

weakened the plea for the continued ban on mechanical beaters, as a means of protecting

employment. Beaters came up in the southern districts too and the number of beaten

increased over time. In early 1997, there were 392 mills handling retted husk, employing

3,023 worken. These mills are small establishments. These are located by backwater side

to facilitate easy unloading of husk and loading of fibre. A small shed houses the

machine. The small piece of land around is used for counting the husk before for

defibring. to sundry the fibre, and to dump the pith. Together, this would require an

investment of about Rs 3-4 lakh, their economic status roughly equivalent to medium-

scale yam producers.

Displacement of works

The method of manual fibre extraction is now replaced by introducing a machine

capable of defibring 8000 nned husks in an eight-hour day employing 8 workers, which

in the manual method was done by 53 workers. Hence for every machine introduced 45

workers are displaced. There is no change in the number of persons required for other

operations like peeling, cleaning, etc., under both the methods. Assuming 200 days of

work the total number of workers required for defibring the annual output of 1.6 lakhs

tomes equivalent to 1600 million ntted husks works out to 8000 worken. It has resulted

in the displacement of 45,333 workers. It was due to this fear that the Trade Unions

opposed the moves for mechanisation of Coir Industry.

W

But comparing the cost advantage of mechaniscd defibring, there is no possibility

of increasing the wages for manual defibring. At the present rate of wages the workers are

not prepared to do the dirty work of manual defibring. Hence mechanical defibring seems

to be the only way available now.

The technological alternatives for fibre extraction available now are the

decorticating and combining machines. The improved models of decorticators provide

two rollers six inches in diameter in the path of husk feeding end so as to squeeze out

water from the retted husks. The husk disintegrates with the powerful strokes of the

beater basis causing the Pith to drop through the grills while the fibres

are rejected through a cute. The fibres that have not been fully cleaned are separated and

fed into a nail drum, which clears the remnants of Pith and impurities from the fibre..

Cont of defibring with Decorticaton for retted husk

The cost decorticating machinery at the commencement of modernisation in 1990

was around Rs. 50, 000. An open shed and half an acre of land are sufficient for a mill.

The mills are normally located near the backwaters to facilitate transportation of husks.

'he average contract rate for defibring 10,000 husks in 1990 was Rs.900. The labour cost

for the mill owner was Rs.610 (Ks.350 for peeling the husks and Rs.260 for defibring).

Another 10 percent may be allowed for additional labour benefits. Normally a

commission of Rs.50 per 10,000 husks is given to the boatmen who bring the husks up to

the mill and production overheads was Rs.79. Depreciation for building @ 5 percent came

to Rs.25. Depreciation for machinery @ I5 percent came to Rs.25. Interest on capital @

12 percent was Rs.64. Mill owners production cost for defibring 10,000 husks amount to

approximately Rs.914. Field enquiries reveal the p r maintenance and the consequent

problems.

Statement showing cost of defibring 10,000 husks with decorticating machine

Fixed Cost : Cost of Machinery 50,000 Building (1500 Sq.fl. @ Rs.IOO/Sq.fl.) 1,50,000

Total cost of Land and Building ~ , ~ , ~

@eratine Cost : Labour for peel Labour for defirbing Additional labour benefits Commission for boatman

Total labour cost 72 1

Overheads 79

Depreciation for building @ 5% 25

(1,50,000 x 5/100 x 1/12 x 1/15 days) Depreciation for machinery @I 5% 25 (50 ,000~ 15/100x 1/12 x 1/25 days)

lntemt on Capital (80°/0 of fixed capital @ 12%) 64 (2,00,000 x 801100 x I2100 x 1/12 x 1/25 days)

Total Overheads

Total Production cost

However the comparative cost advantage of decorticating machines has become a

matler of dispute (SIVARAMAN 1978). One of the important reasons for variations is the

allowance made for transportation cost. Manual defibring is undertaken either at the

retling site itself or in the yard of the producer. If the defibring is to be undertaken at a

distant place, the cost advantage of decorticating will be nullified. The threat of large-

scale displacement of workers was the main reason for the opposition against this

machine in the past.

Green Husk Combining Machines.

Combining techniques involve the application of a variant of the spiked drum,

meant to comb the husk in order to remove shorter fibres and Pith from the husk and

separate the longer fibres. The green husk needs to be soaked in water only for an hour or

so. They are then crushed with rollers and are fed into a combing machine. The machine

separates the longer fibres, shoner fibres and the Pith. The fibre is further cleaned in a

turbo cleaner. The cost of defibring with combing machine in 1990 is given below.

Statement showing cost of defibring 10,000 b u s b per day for 25 days a montb.

Elements of Cost Labour cost Administrative overheads Power, maintenance, etc., Depreciation: Building @, 5% (1,500 sq.A. valued at 1.50,000) Machinery @ I 5% (valued at Rs.2.50.000) Interest on 80% block capital @ 12% (Rs,2,5000+Rs.1,50.000 = 4.00.000) Total cost for 25 days

Cost of delibring and bailing 10,000 husks 1,440 (35,995 1 25days) Leu bailing charges 234

Cost ofdefibrinp, 10,000 preen husks 1306

Introduction of this machine helps to avoid retting cost and enables to bring fibre

from distant places were the fibre is cheap. The open market price of husk in southern

Kerala was normally 2 to 3 times the price of husks at Pollachi in 1990. The labour

requirements in the combining mill even with out automatic conveyor system are much

lower than hc is the dccorticating mill. The fibre output p a worker per day results from

the processing of 625 husks as against 400 husks in decorticating and 150 husks in the

manual sector. Around 75 percent of the workers in the defibring sector would thus be

displaced if the entire production were to be undertaken in the combining mills. If the

combining mills are confined to the northern districts where the use of manual extraction

is relatively low displacement of labour may not be too severe. The invention of coir rett

by the Central Coir Research Institute improves the quality of fibre extracted by these

machines to near the quality of golden fibre extracted from retted husk.

Defibring mills are eliminating defibring by hand (beating) in a phased manner.

The defibring mill is operated by electricity. It consists of two units. The first is a pair of

cast-iron rollers revolving on a horizontal axis. The rollers crush the husk to yield the

fibre. The second unit is a combing machine that separates pith and cleans the fibre. The

introduction of the defibring mill would help to eliminate hard labour done in

uncomfortable posture. It would also serve to increase productivity.

Technological reorganisation of the defibring operation is in progress now.

Relatively more successful co-operatives are given the green signal to establish defibfing

mills. Besides ICDP loan and subsidy, the co-operatives receive additional assistance

from the panchayat.

11 is never~heless imponant to speculate on the problems of the proposed

technological change. Technological change in defibring has two major advantages. First,

mechanical defibring eliminates the backbreaking work of woman labourers in unhygienic

conditions. Second, it quickens the process of production.

The comparative cost and output methods of defibring is given in table 3.2

Table 3.2

Coat output cornpariaon of Alternative Technologies in detibring during 1990

Output/worker/day (no.

Source: Modernisation and employment in the coir industry, Indo-Dutch studies on

development alternatives.

It can be seen from the table that the output per worker in the decorticating mill is

around 2.6 times the output of a manual worker. Complete mechanisation of defibring

would, therefore displace around 60% of the existing workers. The 1988 Census

estimated the employment in this scoter as 52,334 workers. This is nearly half the earlier

estimate. This reduction in the number of people employed is mainly due to the starting of

the Mills. Field enquiries reveal that the total number of coir fibre mills in Kerala today is

around 250. However, decorticating process on the green husk leaves a high level of

impurity in the fibre and renden it unsuitable for yam production.

The lower processing c o s ~ for mechanical defibring as noted above, by itself does

not guarantee that the new defibring technology would be successful. This is due to the

coir yam commodity chain msgress ing to neighbouring regions. As pointed out earlier,

a significant share of the fibre requirements of Kerala is currently being met from

Pollachi. The fibre costs at Pollachi is clearly much lower than the cost of producing fibre

locally, even by mechanical means. The production of fibre in Pollachi is cheaper because

of the cost advantage due to the availability of cheap husk and cheap labour.

Retrenchment of workers

A major problem associated with mechanical defibring is retrenchment of

workers. Although defibring mills are proposed only in the co-operative sector, given

their large capacity, these would gather husk far and wide, and in a situation of inadequate

availability of husk cause retrenchment in the private sector as well. The official

argument is that all workers displaced from the defibring process would be absorbed in

the spinning process.

The question that 'Who will shoulder the responsibility of re-employing the

defibring workers in the private sector?' remains unanswered. Moreover, full re-

employment seems unlikely even within the cooperative segment. It is found that the

defibring process now employs elderly labour mostly women above fony years. It is

observed that many of them found it difficult if not impossible to adapt to spinning on

machines which requires good eyesight and also dexterity of a different order. Given

their age and lack of experience in any activity other than coir, alternate employment may

not be forthcoming either. Requirement of human-power is much less in the mechanised

mode of defibring.

Traditional retting done away with

Defibring mills would use raw husk. As traditional retting is done away with.

the four male worken-working together for four hours to make and sink a maali of 10,000

husks-would not be required at all under mechanical defibring. Again, the labour

requirements for defibring proper are much less under mechanical means. This would be

clear by looking at the conditions in the less advanced type of decorticators (beaters).

While manual defibring of 10,000 husks requires 100 person-days, 15 workers can

complete the job in a day (i.e. 15 person-days) in defibring beaters. Thus, there is a

shortfall by 85 penon-days per 10,000 husks processed.

In the proposed defibring mills, the fall in employment might be more

pronounced. Finally, it would be unreasonable to expect that the scale of mechanical

defibring (andlor mechanised spinning operations) in the fieldwork villages would expand

to accommodate all workers retrenched from the defibring node.

Spinning Coir Yarn

Afier the fibre is extracted from the husks, a good portion of it forms the raw

material for yam spinning. The technology existed before modemisation in the spinning

sector was very primitive. Traditionally, coconut fibre was spun into yam by rolling

between the palms. In the middle of the 191h century the demand for the coir mat

increased considerably in the world market, which in turn increased the demand for the

Cior yam. This led to the replacement of hand spinning with wheel spinning.

Spinning can be divided into two viz. The hand-spinning sector and the spindle

spinning sector. In 1987 there were 80,000 hand spinning units in Kerala. In the spindle

spinning sector there were about 25,000 spinning units, concentrated in the coastal of

Kerala.

The medium-scale producua own 5-10 ratt ind ckdate a working capital of

around Rs 5-10 lakhs each. Each of them anploys 15-30 wrkers. Most cooperatives

also belong to this category. The big producer owns more than 10 ratt, invests at least Rs

10 lakhs, and employs more than 30 workers. As machine technology was already

available for defibring and weaving there were no policy restriction from the Government.

Even workers who were against for technological change did not oppose the continuance

of the machines already in use.

Majority of the yarn producers are of the household organisation type. Many of

them have only one ratt. Each such household unit employs three workers, including the

family members. During times of rise in demand, the 'one-ran' producers lease an

additional ran and increase production to the extent allowed by their scale of working

capital and the land space available.

In the beginning of this century, Arnold Chenery Company had erected a fibre

Mill at Alleppey, which worked for some years. As this Mill failed to succeed competing

with fibre production by manual process, the factory was closed down after some years.

7he survey report of Government of Travancore 1931 states that, the production of yam

was found to be cheaper than by hand in those days. Another fibre mill started by

Aspinwall and Company in 1920's also met with the same fate.'

Coir yam could be an intermediate product or a final product. As an intermediate

product, yarn is used for weaving into mats and matting, which are major items of export.

In addition to the traditional uses, coir manings an now used as geo-textile for preventing

soil erosion.

Cior yams spun in different localities vary in terms of twist, and runnage. The

quality of coir yam varies according to the place of production of coconut and the retting

area. The place of production of coconuts affects the length of fibre while the place of

retting affects the colour of fibre. As the retting is done at the place of production itself, it

could divide into varieties according to the area of retting. Anjengo, Ashtamudy,

Mangadan, Aratory, Vycome, Beachyarn, Parurvannan, Muppiri, Rope yam etc., are some

of the important varieties of coir yam produced. Because of these differences in the

quality of these varieties their end uses also varies. For the proper understanding of the

cost of spinning one should have the knowledge of different variety of yam. Hence a

brief review of the important varieties of yam is made.

Important varieties of coir yam

The coir trade recognises a number of types of yam often named after the places

where they are originally made. The classification of coir yarn in trade by place of

production is based on the belief that yams produced in different areas have definite

characteristics in respect of colour, twist, pith, sand etc. These variations are bought by

the variations in methods, conditions of retting, spinning, seasonal conditions etc. The

important varieties of coir yam are Anjengo, Mangandan, Ashtarnudy, Cadapurarn,

Alapat, Aratory, Vaikom, M.K. Yarn. The major varieties exported arc discussed below..

Anjengo Yarn

The Anjengo retting area extends h r n Mayyanad to Thiruvallorn, south of

Trivandrum for a length of about 50 miles. The regular flow of fresh water of the riven

into the backwaters in this area gives the fibre cleanliness and lustre not obtained in other

areas. This accounts for the fame of Anjengo yam. The main centres of production of

Anjengo variety of coir yam are Paravalur, Nedungainda, Vakkam, Kadakavor,

- English Records Selling, number D.Dis 2367 A127.

99

Chirayinkill, Anjengo, Penunathura, Azhur, Kaniyapuram, Murukkumpuzha and

Panathara.

In European countries, Anjengo yam is used mainly for the manufacture of floor

covering such as mattings, rugs and carpets. It is also used for rope making and

agricultural purposes, including rope cultivation, which requires yam of good quality and

longer runnage. Bunna imports the best quality of Anjengo yams for spinning into ropes

for rafting timber, building boards and for domestic purposes. In Japan, it is used mainly

for manufacturing of fishing nets for which the finest and thinner variety of yarn with

greater runnage is preferred. Hence the special varieties of Anjengo yam known as

"Vettur Thin" "Anjengo Special" and "Japan Star" are specially meant for the Japanese

market. On the other hand the ordinary inferior varieties of yam under the defibring name

"Chorival" is mostly sent to up countries market for manufacturing thick varieties of rope.

For manufacturing coir products like matting sand carpets the coir factories in Kerala are

using the best quality of Anjengo yam.

Mangandan Yam

Mangandan variety of yam is produced at Mangad, Asramam, Perinad,

Prakkulam, Chavam, Thevalakkara, Kozhivala and Neendakara in and around Chavara.

The majority of the mangandan yam imported by western countries is used for the

manufacture of mats, mattings and rope, besides for agricultural purposes. Good quality in

Mangadan yarn is exported to Burma and Malaysia, besides being sent to Alleppey for

manufacturing process. Mangadan yam is mostly consumed in Indian market for

agricultural purpose.

Cadapuram Yarn

Cadapuram Yarn is used for the manufacturing of doormats and mesh matting. A

good portion of this yarn is also exported.

Aratory Yarn

Aratory yam is produced at Arattupwha, Mahadevicad, Mangalam, Karuvuta,

Chingole and Muthqukulam. U.K., West Germany, Netherlands and Burma import most

of this yam. They use it for the manufacture of carpets and matti&, besides being spun

into ropes and used for agricultural purpose. In the coir factories in Kerala, the Aratory

yams are used for the manufacture of carpets and for sticking braids around the coir mats.

Vaikom Yam

Vaikom variety of yam is produced on the banks of the Vambanad Lake. The

superior variety of Vaikom yam is known as Aroor special and the inferior variety as the

beach yarn. Aroor special is made at Aroor, Edacochi and Kumvalangi and the inferior

variety at Shertallai and Arnbalapwha. Beach yam making is a pan time business and this

type of yarn is made up of husks retted for only a few days.

Table 3.3

Variety-wise Estimated Production of Coir Yarn

Source: Survey report K.S.I., 1997

From table 3.3 it can be observed that among all varieties, production of

Mangadan variety is maximum with 21.8 percent followed by Cadapwam with 20.6

percent, Anjengo with 14.3 percent and Vaikom with 11.8 percent. These five prominent

karirties together constitute about seventy percent of the total coir yam production in the

state. Where as value wise Cadapuram stands first followed by Anjengo and Mangandan.

quantity of fibre required to produce a kilogram of yam varies according to the

variety of yarn. Table 3.4 shows the requirement of fibre for the production of 100

kilograms of coir yam.

Table 3.4

Statement Showing Requirements of Fibre

(For production of 100 kgs of coir yam)

Source: Coir Board

It can be observed from the table that the requirement of fibre varied from 103.8

kgs from Magadan to 110.5 kgs for Aratory. There are four important sectors producing

yam. The quantify and coir yam produced in the four sectors and the percentage to the

total are shown in Table 3.5

TABLE 3.5

Production of coir yarn in Kerala during 1995-96

Source: Report on Survey of Coir Industry in Kerala 1997.

It can be observed from the table, that household sector stands first in the

~roduction of coir yam in the state followed by the co-operatives and private yam

producers.

The household and co-operative sector account for 75 percent of the coir yam, of

which, household alone accounts for 58.65 percent. including 1675 tonnes of coir yam

brought to Kerala by road from other states, 1,63,326 tonnes of coir yam was available in

Kerala.

Technological Alternatives in Spinning

Hand Spinning

In the traditional hand spinning, the spinner first produces fibre strands of short

length by noting the coir fibre between the palms with a clockwise t ~ i s t . These strands

are then taken together and given a counter-clockwise twist to form two ply yams. The

yam is held in position with the toes while further short pieces are added until the length

of a husk (20-60 feet) is reached. A worker will spin 2.5 to 3.0 kgs of yam in an eight-

hour working day. A hand spinner working for eight hours was able to earn Rs.4.00 to

4.50 a day in 1990. Hand Spun yam is of a soft twist variety.

Rstt Spinning

For hand twist yams, a raft is employed. A ratt consists of a set of two spinning

wheels one mounted on a stationery stand and the other on a moveable trolley. The

spindles on the stands are activated by rotating the wheels. Cleaned coir fibre is suitably

m g e d and held by two spinners to draw out the slivers, which arc hooked on to the two

spindles on the stationary stand. While the rotator triggers the spindle to rotate in

clockwise direction, the spinners steadily feed in the fibre in the required thickness and

slowly move backwards as the strands of yam lengthens.

When the required length is reached, the ends of the strands are joined and

connected to the single spindle. One of the spinners then rotates the moveable stand wheel

to double the single strands in an anti-clock wise direction. The other spinner inserts a

yam guide made of a wooden block with a groove, in between the strands to regulate the

twist. The yam guide is steadily moved towards the stationary stand at a speed

synchronised with the rolation of the wheel. The moveable stand wheel is moved forward

at this stage. The spindles on the stationary stand are also rotated to prevent the single

strands loosening. The unhygienic process and the drudgery involved in the traditional

fibre extraction and spinning. The younger generations are reluctant to take up this work

related to coir industry.

The spun yam is usually 40 to 50 feet long. The yam output of a ratt depends up

on length per Kilogram or otherwise called runnage. Runnage depends on the variety of

yam. The output per ratt of Anjengo yam of 240-metre runnage is between 12 to 15

Kilogram.

Spinning Process

The coir spinning industry was built upon the easily obtained supply of 'lower'

and 'out' caste women and child labour. The caste and gender bases of the industry have

not significantly altered even now but child labour has been substantially reduced with the

spread of schooling. Young women shun work in the industry. It is not just work done

by 'low' castes but a work that assigns the worker a lower status.

10s

Alternative employment opportunities have emerged in the construction and

service sectors. In these new jobs, the physical conditions of work are substantially better,

wages arc ofien higher, and employment is fuller. In 1997-98 the average daily wage rate

of "unskilled female worker" in the construction sector was Rs. 87.24 in rural areas and

Rs. 89.42 in urban areas.'

Attractions outside the industry

The increasingly higher level of education among young women has also

increasg preference for 'office-work' or such kind of jobs, even if it is a low paid sales

assistant in textile shop in town, or a poorly paid worker in gannent-making unit in the

village itself. As other sectors thus attract a part of the potential labour for the industry,

the supply of labour to coir spinning has been shrinking, steadily though slowly.

Increase in wages

The tendency of shrinking supply of labour is more recent. The workers in the

spinning segment were unorganised and received starvation wage rather than living wage

even in the '50s. With repeated struggles by workers and a sympathetic government

policy, the situation changed subsequently and the actual wage paid exceeded the

recommended minimum wage by more than 100 per cent by early '70s. Since then, the

rising cost of living in the State due to increasing import-dependence even for basic food

thereby increasing the cost of reproducing labow-power has prompted rise in money-

wages. The diminution in labour supply and expanding money supply with remittances

from Kerala workers in Middle-East Asia ('Gulf) also had an important bearing on the

general scene and also a retrogression from the position in early '70s.

S. P. B. Economic Review 1998, p.3 1. 106

A deadlock in product price fixing.

The increase in the price of raw material and cost of labour at one side and the

inability to increase the price at the other has resulted in a deadlock. Husk prices cannot

be brought down. Wages cannot (rather, should not) be reduced. The output price may

be increased only at the peril of losing market, Investigation has to be made as to how the

industry elsewhere copes with this situation and the conditions that prevail in those

places.

Cost of Rntt Spinning

A traditional spinning wheel (ratt) set costs around Rs.1,000 in 1990. The village

carpenters make it using minimal wood and some steel rods. Its operating costs are very

low. All that it needs is some coconut oil to reduce friction at the pivot and an overhaul

once a year or once in two years. A person with about Rs 5,000 and some land could set

up two sets of ran, get fibre on credit from traders, employ mostly family labour and

sparingly neighbourhood labour, and carry on subsistence-production. Alternatively, a

penon with much larger resources could set up a large number of ratts and employ a

larger number of workers, buy fibre in bulk when its prices are low and hold back the yarn

produced, for better prices. Many entrepreneurs used to combine rening and defibring, a

few including some co-operatives undertake spinning as well.

Wages constitute the major component of the conversation charge. The minimum

labour charges for spinning 100 kgs of Anjengo yam in 1990 was

Rs.444.40 and other benefits coming to 43 percent of that amounting to Rs. 191.00.

However the minimum wage is rarely paid. The average daily wage of a worker spinning

Anjengo yam producing 12.2-Kgs yam a day with two colleagues comes to Rs. 18.

(Around Rs. 20 for each spinner and Rs. 16 for rotation.)

Treadle rntt spinning

It is an intermediate technology developed by the Coir Board to solve the

problem of poor quality and low output in the traditional method without much

displacement of workers. The fibres are hand fed in this and the motive power for

synchronised action of the spindle assembly comes from the treadle operation of spinners.

That is why it is called treadle ratt. In this, feeding fibres is done through spindle tubes

with a control mechanism for regulating the thickness of yam. Then the single strands are

twisted two ply yams by an appropriate gear mechanism. The yam is wound on spools

positioned on the winding frame. With the movement of the treadle the whole set of

operation from importing a single twist to each ply of yam to the winding of two ply yam

an the spool are synchronised. The two spinners feed the fibre into the treadle operations.

The cost of treadle ratt is only Rs.3000 and it occupies six sq.ft, area. With a

simple adjustment of change gearwheels, the equipment can produce yams of different

types. Moreover yam of uniform linear density and twist of continuous length can be

produced with this ratt. It also reduces the difficulty of the worker. In the traditional rat

spinning a worker has to walk backward and forward 8 to 10 kilometres a day. These ratts

can be advantageously introduced in the hand-spun varieties. Introduction of treadle ran

will not result in the displacement of workers like the introduction of automatic spinning

machine.

Technological reorganisation of the spinning aims at manufacturing a new variety

of yams. Mangadan variety of yarn, as noted earlier, is of shorter runnage than the

108

Anjengo variety of yam. Its use is primarily in agriculture. The rise of substitutes like

plastic yam has posed competition to Mangadan yam in recent years. Even if there has

been no absolute decline in demand for Mangadan yarn as a result, it has certainly

constrained expansion of demand.

Motorised Ratt Spinning

Electric motor-powered spinning machines are replacing the traditional spinning

wheels operated by hand and the Treadle ratt. This is expected to increase productivity

and to turn out more value-added products. The yarn yielded by the machines would be

the finer variety yarn that could be used for weaving. The demand for yarn has been

largely stagnant. However, the demand for yam as an intermediate product has been

increasing as derived from the increased demand for manings. This would imply that the

proposed modemisation would have the advantage of integrating yam production with the

'sun-rise' segment of the industry. The new spinning machines allow workers to sit and

spin. eliminating thus the walking between the wheels characteristic of the prevailing

lechnology.

The new motorised ratts are designed to spin the longer runnage Anjengo yam

that could be used for weaving mats and mattings. Since mattings are being put to new

uses such as guarding soil erosion, the weaving node has experienced a spurt in recent

years. Technological change in spinning as proposed would thus have the effect of

linking it to the 'sun rise' segment of the industry. Another merit of mechanised spinning

would be the improvement of the physical conditions of work. "Endless walking"

between the spinning wheels would no longer be necessary. Work may be done sitting on

the seat attached to the spinning machine. Further, the workers would not have to work

under the sun or in the rain. Hence work would be performed in-door.

Machine Spinning with automatic feeding Mechanisms

The uniformity of thickness and twist in a length of yam varies in the traditional

method according to the skill of the worker. The difference in thickness and twist of yam

reduces the tensile strength of yam. So also since it is not possible for the traditional

method to maintain continuous length of yam, short husks of yam are spliced together

before export. This further reduces the tensile strength. Hence there has been a steady rise

in demand for machine spun yarn in the international market.

The relatively low diameterllength ratio and the coarseness of the fibre are the

two characteristics of coir which have acted as impediments for mechanisation of

spinning of yam. With the efforts of the Central Coir Research Institute and the initiative

of some ~r ivate industr~alists in Tamil Nadu spinning machines are fabricated in India

now like thc ones used in Japan and Sri Lanka in the b r o w fibre industry.

Fibre spinning yam in this machine is done after the coir fibres are cleaned by a

willowing machine and are then made into shivers of uniform density with the help of a

shivering machine. As the sliven move out at a regulated speed through a set of feeding

rollers, the fibres are combined out from the slivers into a channel containing the lead n a d

of cotton which carry forward the fibres to the nozzle of the spinning tube. The thickness

of strands is regulated by roller controls in the nozzle. The doubling twist of the two ply

Yam is regulated by an appropriate combination of level g e m and change gears. The

twisted yam is wound on to bobbins. The speed of the feed rollers and the combining

drum is synchronised with the speed of the spindle tube, twisting frame, the draw of yam

1 lo

and its winding onto the bobbins. In this manner a continuos length of coir yam of

uniform linear density and twist is guaranteed. By altering the nozzle control and the

gears in the twisting frame a variety of yam can be spun on the same machine.

The quantity of output depends on the thickness of the yam. A spinning head can

spin 34 kgs of Quilandy type yam or Anjengo type yam of 240 meters runnage. One

willowing machine and slivering machine can cater to the fibre requirements of a dozen

spinning heads. One operator can attend to three or four spinning head at a time.

Therefore, a team of six workers and a supervisor will suffice to operate a spinning unit of

12 spinning heads producing either 410 kgs Quilandy yam or 180 kgs Anjengo yam per

day. Thus the output per worker is 68 Kgs of Quilandy yam or 30 kgs of Anjengo yam

compared to 3.5 Kgs of Quilandy yam that can be spun by hand and 4.0 of Anjengo yam

spun by ran. The spinning unit of 12 heads needed an investment of about Rs.2,70,000 in

1990. The wages in the hand spinning sector (Quilandy) are only around one-tenth and in

the ratt spinning sector (Anjengo) less than half of the wages in the machine spinning

sector.

The working results of machine spinning compared to the traditional process for

making Anjengo Yam are shown in Table 3.6.

Table 3.6

Comparison of technological Alternatives in Spinning -Anjengo Yarn in 1990

Elements of cost

Source: Modernisation and employment the coir industry in Kerala, T.M., Thomas

Isaac, P.A Van Stivjvenberg and K.N. Nair

It can be seen from the table that conversion cost is the minimum with motorised

ratt for making Anjengo yam. More over the machine spun yam has certain technical

limitations. It can not be used for pile mats, as there is a cotton lead thread within the

yarn. In case of thinner yam like superior Anjengo of longer runnage, the lead thread

tends the show up through the yarn. All these technical snags can be overcome and cost

advantages for machine spinning can be acquired through a further improvement in

technology or change in the relative wages. But according to the observations of the Indo-

Dutch studies on development alternatives. the adoption of mechanisation spinning is still

not desirable due to the disastrous results, it has on employment in the industry.

According to the study committee, a policy of mechanisation is expected to result in the

displacement of 70 to 80 percent of the estimated 2,68,000 spinners who were employed

Motorised ratts have become increasingly popular after the commencement of

modernisation, consequently, the elements of cost also have slightly changed. The cost of

1 I 2

spinning with the traditional ratt and motorised ratt as prevailed in 1999 is given in

table 3.7

Table 3.7

Comparative cost of Spinning in 1997

/ Elements of cost 1 Cost of spinning on / (Rs.) 1 Cost o f mechanised spinning I (Rs.) ]

46 per worker and charges Rs. 5.50 per each piece of for operating Ran, for 4 I SO meters persons @ Rs. 42 per head.

Wages for drying 8 bundles @ Rs. 4 per 32.00 For 7 bundles @ Rs. 7.20 50.40 bundle per bundle

Bonus 20% on wages 121.60 194.08 Fibre cleaning machine I--- 40.00

Coir libre (raw material) Wager for cleaning fibre Wages for spinning

/ Motor oil, spares, I 1 N i l I 1 100.00 /

traditianal ratt

8 spinning workers @ Rs.

quintal of yam. The yarn produced on the machine k i n g o f higher quality and runnage they get a bener price in the market. The Interest on investment and depreciation are not taken into consideration.

' technician's wager / Elecaicily

I cost of ~roducina one I

Source: Modernisation and employment the coir industry in Kerala, T.M., Tnomas

Isaac, P.A Van Stivjvenberg and K.N. Nair

1360.00 40.00

536.00

The increase in cost of production and the decrease in individual daily physical

Nil 2129.6

output (by weight) of workers, however, have only minimal significance when read

against the fact that the yam produced under mechanised spinning is a different variety. It

For I64 pieces of yam @

1 30.00 ! 2694.48

is finer and has a higher runnage. It has almost similar runnage as Anjengo yarn

(200-240-260 metres per kg of yam) that is used for weaving and is thus a higher price-

Commanding product. While Mangadan coir fetches Rs 1,780-1,900 per quintal, the new

Anjengo variety is priced at Rs 2,280-2,440. Price is fixed by runnage and not by weight

(At pmcnt, however, the cost of producing either variety of yam falls short of their

market prices). There is no fall in the income of workers either as the earlier wages are

l I3

1360.00 40.00

880.00

maintained by re-fixing wages in tenns of running length. Fulther, the wages per quintal

of fibre processed into yam rises from Rs 608 to Rs 970.40 under the new technology.

Thus, more money accrues to the local economy as wages when one quintal of fibre is

processed.

Cost is calculated step by step for each sub-operation and for the four stages, viz

retting, defibring, spinning and weaving. These may, however, be redefined in the course

of aggregation. Different sub-operations knit into a node, several nodes fuse into a

commodity chain. Even if the costs of a specific operation or at a specific node increase it

may be offset by decrease in the cost of another operation or node, making the final

product cheaper. Similarly, retrenchment in one segment may be compensated by

increased employment in another or an overall quickening of the production process may

bring down cost of working capital. A more comprehensive picture of costs would

emerge only when the new technology package is fully implemented.

Change in Technology

In retting process instead of backwater retting of husk, mechanical extraction of

fibre from green husk followed by its treatment with bio-inoculants for improving the

quality of fibre is done. This is carried out in ground level storage tanks filled with bio-

inoculants enriched freshwater. This significantly reduces retting time and to avoid

pollution of backwaters.

In defibring process, defibring mills eliminate defibring by hand (beating). The

defibring mill is operated by electricity. It consists of two units. The first is a pair of

cast-iron rollers revolving on a horizontal axis. The rollers crush the husk to yield the

fibre. The second unit is a combing machine that separates pith and cleans the fibre. The

I I4

introduction of the defibring mill helps to eliminate hard labour done in uncomfortable

posture. It also serves to increase productivity. Third, electric motor-powered spinning

machines replaces the traditional spinning wheels operated by hand.

This increases productivity and to turn out more value-added products. The yam

yielded by the machines is of finer variety that could be used for weaving. The demand

for yarn has been largely stagnant. However, the demand for yam as an intermediate

product has been increasing due to the derived demand for matting. This implies that the

ongoing modernisation has the advantage of increasing yam production and thereby

enables the increased production of matting. The new spinning machines allow workers

to sit and spin, eliminating thus the walking between the wheels characteristic of the

prevailing technology.

Modernisation scheme enables the conversion of defibring waste, pith, into a

commercial product, the 'pith plus' fertiliser. Finally, as all production operations would

be shifted from open air to in-door, work can be done even in adverse weather conditions.

The ongoing technological plan when fully unfolded would change the

technological organisation of the two processes, defibring and spinning, and add a new

process for the production of pithplus using pith.

The relative merits and demerits of the various technological alternatives in the

major production process other than retting are summarised in Table 3.8

Table 3.8

Technological Alternatives in the Coir Industry.

Source: Modernisation and employment the coir industry in Kerala T. M.,

Thomas Isaac, P. A Van Stivjvenberg and K. N. Nair

In Table 3.8, different technologies are ranked on the basis of labour intensity,

quality of product, wages to 'workers and cost of production. The traditional technology

are the most labour intensive. The employment potential of traditional techniques has

indeed been the main argument put forward for their preservation. However, with respect

to other criteria the traditional techniques rank relatively low. In the traditional

technology the quality was inferior except in the case of fibre extraction, even here the

prospects of improving the combing technique so as to standardise product quality were

quite promising. Moreover, they noted that there is no statistical evidence for the inferior

quality of mechanically extracted fibre when fully retted husks are used. Yam, which is

produced manually, varies in thickness and twist.

Power loom weavers could reduce the idle time due to yam breakage from 25

percent to 8 percent when the machine made yams are used? The absence of a guaranteed

high tensile strength has been the main reason for the loss of the UK yarn market in hop

cultivation. It was the machine spun yam from Sri Lanka that has been displacing

Kerala's traditional products from the market.

Weaving

The technology followed in weaving was very primitive for a long time. In the

weaving sector fabrics such as pile and non-pile mats, matting, carpets, moumuks and

rugs were woven on improvised textile handlooms or on wooden frames or boards.

Gradually certain new products and improved looms such as Jacquard-looms were

introduced. However, there was no technological change from the handloom. Machines

were used only for bailing of coil yam for export and for finishing the fibre mats

hydraulic presses were employed for bailing the coir yams and shearing machines were

used for finishing the fibre mats. Dyeing was still carried out manually.

'A power-loom factory cannot compete with a well organised cottage industry

and weaving coir yam on a power-loom does not conduce any great economy over a

hand-loom factory and this opinion has been confirmed by the methods now in vogue in

Cochin and the departmental enquiries made therein'." (Amalsad 1925; 22). In 30's

two European firms introduced power-looms which did not succeed (Almis 1935; 7). The

reason for the failure of mechanised production was that the rural labour was so cheap

compared to mechanised production systems.

In 1961 the Government had decided to mechanise one third of the matting

capacity in order to revive in foreign export of matting. The coir board started a model

power-loom factory on an experimental basis and the rest of the power-loom capacity was

offered to private firms. Only one shipping house utilised it by the end of sixties. But in

the middle of seventies the same firm took steps to establish a power-loom to produce

mats as well. The workers vigorously opposed the movement. Due to this opposition in

Kerala, the new factory supposed to be the world's largest mechanised coir factory was

set up near the Kerala border at Nagarcoil in Tamil Nadu. The technical know-how and

the machinery were imported from Netherlands and Germany. Due to the vehement

protests in Kerala the Government of India had to stop W e r extension of power-loom

weaving.

The power looms started spreading in 1970's. Given the heavy fixed investment

fbr a powcr-loom factory the cost of power-loom product mainly depended on the extent

of capacity utilisation. According to the estimate of Indian Institute of foreign trade in

1970, the cost of production of a creel mat produced in a power-loom factory working on

two shifts was 24.24 percent lower than that of a hand loom mat. But on a one shifl basis

the difference narrowed to 16.97 percent." In addition to this due to the changed situation

during the post independent period the foreign firms who dominated the industry were not

interested in increasing h e fixed investment in the country. Similarly the European

lo In the twmtich D.M. Amalrrd, textile cxpcn to the Govcmmcnt of Indi4 had pointed out.

118

power-loom ownen were openly against mechanising the weaving industry in Kerala by

the Indian Entrepreneurs

In 1987, there were about 3085 manufacturing units engaged in the production of

coir and coir products registered with the Coir Board under the Coir Industly

(Registration and Licensing). Rules. But only about 170 units were registered under the

factories Act. Only few units employ more than 100 workers. In the manufacturing sector

there were 13 manufacturing co-operative societies. 80 percent of the units were small

units employing less than 10 workers. The units were concentrated mostly in the

Ambalapuzha and Shertallai taluks of Alleppey district.

Availability of raw materials, cheap transporting facilities, moderately skilled

labour and accessibility to foreign markets were some of the factors for the concentration

of coir manufacturing industry in Alleppey. The fibre and yam which form the raw

material for coir manufacturing, came not only from around Alleppey but also from

distant places in the south and northem parts of the state. Availability of raw material in

close proximity is not a critical factor at this stage as the raw material i.e, fibre and yam

are pure materials imparting their entire weight to be produced. Therefore the

manufacturing need not necessafily be at the place of output of the raw materials.

Many factories came up in Alleppey. With the result competition for getting raw

material and labour become severe then. For relatively cheap labour, later factories were

started at Shertallai and Cochin. Now the manufacturing industry is fairly wide spread and

extends from Kayamkulam to Kozhicode and has further moved out of Kerala to the

muthem districts of Tamil Nadu and Coimbaton and Pollachi regions.

" Indii Institute of foreign trade 1971; 84

Traditional Weaving Proceu

Coir industry was sticking on to the traditional technology for weaving while the

rest of the world made rapid progress technologically. Coir mats and mattings are woven

on handlooms similar to those in the textile industry. But due to the peculiarities of coir

yam, sophistication such as fly shuttle techniques could not be used in the weaving of coir

fabrics. All the preparatory works required prior to weaving are also done by hand. After

sorting out the coir yam according to scorage, colour, etc. they are sliced together to

obtain continuos length. Then the yam is dyed in open vats or boiler and dried in the

shade. Then preparatory arrangements of weaving are done manually. Finally the yarn is

spooled in the required lengths and inserted in the weaving shuttle. To get a clean shed, a

stick is inserted into every shed and retained thoroughly and the stick is removed before

the shed is changed. Thus the mat is woven. Coir carpets are also woven by similar

technique. In addition to a large variety of mats, corridor mats, cricket pitch matting,

billiard surroundings, gymnasium mats or army tent components, wall bags, camouflage

nets are also produced by these traditional techniques.

In the traditional weaving technique was able to produce only a paor quality

product. Skidding was a major problem with the traditional mats and rnanings. Large

portions of coir products in Europe are treated against skidding by coating the back with

PVC, PVC foam, latex or polyurethane. Now with improvements in the traditional

weaving process it is possible to evolve standard norms for loom components and loom

structures for the matting looms and mat looms. The standardisation of looms minimises

the drawbacks of handloom products. It also increases the productivity by 25 percent.

The weaving of coir floor products

This is the last stage of production process in the traditional white fibre coir

industry. Though the European entrepreneurs in the middle of the 1qh century introduced

coir weaving in Kerala, no improvement in the techniques was done till recently. Now it

is continued with improvements in the traditional weaving process.

Automatic power-loom weaving

Even in the improved handloom a mechanism of continuos take-up and let-off

synchronisation to the pace of weaving is not possible. Matting is wound on a roller by

periodic operation of a foot treadle in handloom which results in the variation in the

movement of the sleigh and consequently in the force of beat up. The younger generation

is reluctant to take up the traditional weaving due to the drudgery involved in it.

Automatic power-loom is an alternative to handloom. This was till recently

unacceptable to the Trade Unions due to the fear of severe displacement of workers. As

per the lndo - Dutch studies on development alternatives only 23 per cent of the

traditional work force would be required if the entire matting sector were to be

mechanised. According to the Kerala State Planning Board (K.S.P.B.) Estimate 1973, the

mechanisation of the matting sector could displace 2,750 man-years out of 3,200 of

handloom employment (i.e. 86 per cent). Similarly mechanisation of mat production

would displace 1,424 man-years of the present 1,750 man-years of employment (i.e. 81

Per cent). According to another study by Ramaswarny in 1976,90 per cent of the weavers

Would be displaced if full-scale mechanisation of the weaving sector were to be

introduced.

Despite the fears of unemployment and objections from various quarters

automatic power-looms came up in Kerala. Due to the stiff opposition to the

mechanisation in Kerala a large power-loom unit with 25 matting looms and 13 mat-

looms was established in the 1970's at Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu, adjacent to

Kerala State.

Out put per weaver is around 20 - 25 times higher than the output of a manual

weaver. Automatic power-looms enjoy a definite cost advantage over the handlooms.

However now the equipment cost of a power-loom factory has gone up to Rs.35 lakhs,

which is 33 times that of a handloom factory. According to the Indo-Dutch study, the cost

of depreciation and interest on the outlay on capital equipment for power-loom matting

alone would be more than double the entire conversion charge of a square meter of

handloom matting. Hence power-loom weaving is not a viable technological option for

the industry at present.

Semi Automatic Loom Weaving

Central Coir Research Institute after prolonged years of research brought out this

technology. It is a modified traditional loom with arrangements for co-ordinated let off,

shedding, beating and take-up, all link to hand - picking off the weft and the use of a

motor for imparting the loom motions.

The cost of one metre semi-automatic loom is around Rs.80,000. One metre-

matting loom, employing two weavers produces 25 square metre of matting on an eight-

hour shift. The production of semi-automatic power loom operated by a single weaver is

40 square metre. The conversion charge of producing matting by semi-automatic loom is

less compared to handloom and the quality of products is much better. From the point of

labour displacement it is relatively much better than the automatic power looms.

Comparative cost analyses of making Quilandy yarn by hand spinning, Treadle

ratt spinning and automatic spinning machine shows the following facts. Cost of

production of 1. kg Quilandy yam by hand spinning was Rs. 6.71 (conversion cost Rs.

1.28), by Treadle ratt spinning was Rs. 6.83 (conversion cost Rs. 1.33) and by automatic

spinning machine was Rs. 8,37(conversion cost Rs. 2.87) Hence Treadle rat! is the most

cost effective technology for spinning Quilandy type of yam..

Comparative cost analyses of making Anjengo yam by ratt spinning, Treadle ratt

spinning Motorised ratt spinning and automatic spinning machine shows the following

facts. Cost of production of I , kg Anjengo yam by ratt spinning was Rs. 10. 25

(conversion cost Rs. 4.48), by Treadle ratt spinning was Rs. 11.25 (conversion cost Rs.

5.59), Motorised ratt spinning was Rs. 8.67 (conversion cost Rs. 3.17)and by automatic

spinning machine was Rs. 11.02 (conversion cost Rs. 5.52) Hence Motorised ran is the

most cost effective technology for spinning superior variety of Anjengo yam.

Comparative cost analyses of weaving mats by hand lwm, Semi Automatic loom

and Fully automatic loom shows the following facts. With handloom technology, the cost

of production of I square meter of matting on a I-shift basis is was Rs. 27.56.

(Conversion cost Rs. 7.56). On a 2 shift basis it was Rs. 27.00 (Conversion cost Rs. 7.00).

With Semi automatic loom the cost of production of 1 square meter of matting on a 1-

shift basis is was Rs. 3 1.82. (Conversion cost Rs. 7.49). On a 2 shift basis it was Rs. 30.93

(Conversion cost Rs. 6,60).With fully automatic loom the cost of 1 sq.m. of matting on a

1 shift basis equals was Rs.50.54. (conversion cost Rs.26.21 ) On a 2 shift basis it was

Rs.43.54. (conversion cost Rs.19.21 ) Hence the Semi automatic technology it the most

cost effective for weaving mattings.

Considering the circumstances prevailing in Kerala this seems to be the only

option. There is no import barrier or prohibitive fixed investments requirements for semi-

automatic looms. Since traditional skill requirements are significantly lower for the semi-

automatic loom, it can be adopted easily by the other coir producing states. Therefore it

can also be introduced in Kerala in a phased manner. As the technology still requires

considerable requirements handlooms may continue to survive in the unorganised sector.

The semi-automatic loom would lay the basis for the emergence of a modem organised

sector in the weaving stage. A special rehabilitation scheme that is meant for absorbing

the weaven who are displaced due to the semi mechanised weaving sector might be

drawn up. Though the number of workers involved is unlikely to exceed 3000 to 5000

such a rehabilitation scheme is necessary. Thus the transmission to the new technology

can be planned to take place with least disruption.

Technology for conversion of Coir pith, into a commercial product

The pith is a waste obtained at the fibre extraction process. This forms 70 percent

of the husk. The pith is accumulated at the rate of 75 lakh tonnes per year in the premises

of Coir industrial units. Another component of the technological reorganisation of the

defibring process is the proposal to make pith, the defibring waste, a commercial product.

Pith has been traditionally used as a sun-cover around the foot of the coconut tree. Its

salinity is also considered as beneficial for the growth of the tree. The sheer bulk of pith

and high transportation costs have, however, acted against its popularity among farmers.

Farmers have found it more economical and convenient to whitewash the tree for sun-

cover and to apply common salt for saline need. As a result, a large share of the pith

turned out lies unused. These pith dumps occupy substantial space on the backwater

shore in the villages. Many researches were conducted for the utilisation of this waste

product. Recycling it to the field were also attempted. Research work done in Tamil Nadu

agricultural University proved that with a proper treatment it is possible to compost coir

pith.

The new defibring mills tend to cause greater wastage than manual defibring.

Two tonnes of pith are produced for every tonne of fibre produced in the defibring mill. It

remains to be seen whether 'pith plus' can make an entry into market in the place of

chemical fenilisers which are much less bulky and enjoy long established demand. It is

equally doubtful if it could compete with traditional organic fertilisers like ash, cow dung

and 'compost'.

Composting

Pith is now converted into a fertiliser with pithplus. The Coir Research Centre of

the Coir Board in Kerala develops the pithplus. For carrying out this process a land with

5-mts. length and 3-mts, width is required for spreading 100 kilogram of coir pith. A

packet of 400 grams of pithplus has to be sprinkled over that. Then a kilogram of urea

also has to be sprinkled on the spread coir pith. 25 buckets of water per day has to be

sprinkled on this for 30 days. By then the pithplus converts the coir pith by decaying the

chemical called linking contained in the coir pith and makes nitrogen, phosphorus and

potassium which are essential for the cultivation of paddy, pepper, teak, rubber and the

coconut trees. Thus the coir pith which was hither to the waste product is converted into a

much demanded agro fertiliser by the use of pithplus.

The process of composting is an outdoor activity, wherein coir pith with 70

percent moisture is systematically heaped layer by layer over plastic lined, raised, shallow

mud-bunted tank (10 cm high) measuring 1.8 metre width and convenient length. The

heap should be about one metre high with tampering top in between the layers.

Suitable additives should be spread depending on the quantity of raw materials

and the type of the final products required. As a nitrogen source, caster cake, neem cake

or coffee husk forms a good input to produce 100 percent organic compost. Chemical

fertilisers like urea or ammonium sulphate would be used to reduce the cost. Microbial

cultures like Trichoderma, Azotobacter and Bhocho bacteria help the faster degradation

and make the product an ideal bio-compost. The compost thus prepared is called Varansi

Co-compost. Here, the major nutrient viz., N, P, K vary from 1.5 to 2.5 percent on the

inputs. It also contains secondary and micronutrients required for the healthy growth of

the plant. Further the compost can absorb and retain moisture up to 400 to 500 percent

and prevent its evaporation. It is ideal manure to mix into the soil in plant nurseries."

The 'pithplus' idea is a contribution of coir research scientists. The co-operatives

have accepted it unquestioningly as part of the new package of 'financed' technology.

Pith is now baled into bricks of a compact size for export. This implies easy carriage and

significant reduction in transportation cost. The pith bricks when immersed in water

swells up and regains the original volume. It finds wide use in in-door horticulture in

Europe.

Modernisation scheme envisages the conversion of defibring waste, pith, into a

Commercial product, the 'pith plus' fertiliser. Finally, as all production operations would

" Dr Varanasi Krishna Moorthy and Dr. K.P. Rao Recycling ofcoir piIh, Coir news P.21

be shifted from open air to in-door work can be done even in adverse weather conditions.

The proposed technological plan when fully unfolded would change the technological

organisation of the two processes, defibring and spinning. A new process will be added

for the production of pithplus using pith. The change is represented in Table 3.9

Table. 3.9 Technological change in Coir Yarn Industry

Process

Retting

Defibrinn

Spinning Spinning by hand or ratt Spinning with the motorised ratts and automatic spinning

from retted husk by beating with wooden Pilate

1 machines.

Waste product I Pith is a waste product at I Pith is converted into a

Traditional technology

Retting of green husk in brackish water

Manual extraction of fibre unretted husk using Decorticating or combing machine.

1 . / fibre extraction stage. I fertiliser using pithplus. 1

Modem technology.

Bio- inoculant treatment of fibre

Extraction of fibre from

Source: Fieldwork

The ongoing scheme of modemisation is confined to the co-operative sector. The

project comprises two major schemes. First, the establishment of 200 modern spinning

units, each with 100 electrical motor-powered spinning machines, in the existing co-

operatives. Second, the establishment of 100 electrically powered defibring mills under

the aegis of co-operatives to be floated newly.

Questions posed by the new technology

How does the industry go with the new technology while confronting with the

shortage of husk and its high price? As observed earlier, a major factor behind the high

price of husk is the skewed distribution of the industry within the industry despite the

even distribution of coconut cultivation. The industry is concentrated in southern Kerala

where on account of root wilt disease, coconut production is falling significantly.

Drawing husk from northern districts involve acting through several intermediaries and

carrying husk over long distance and both these tend to hike the delivery price of husk.

The introduction of rapid retting in ground level tanks and defibring of green husk in the

new mills would have the effect of making production possible even in those regions

where there in no backwater. Thus more activity may be forthcoming in northern districts

in the future. This would imply more comprehensive and more economic collection of

husk for the State as a whole. At once it could also aggravate the husk shortage already

faced by the southern districts.

It would also appear that there is the urgent need to improve upon the

'technologies' for husk collection. Experience so far shows both the state and market

have failed in this field. As defibring mills with large capacity being set up, the demand

for husk may be expected to rise significantly. Further, with competition raised by new

defibring mills the shortage of husk faced by smaller producers may be aggravated and

special measures to supply husk to them might become necessary.

Another strategy to counter the shortage and high price of husk is to seek ways of

its most economic utilisation. The possibility of producing highly value-added products

may be explored. Suggestions regarding a possible new product range have been made for

a long time but the progress have been extremely slow. Many of the ideas that had come

up in the 1950s or even earlier are yet to assume materiality." This would help the

industry afford the high price of husk. The new technology package does not seem to

have considered these aspects seriously.

The proposed deftbring mills are of similar design as in Pollachi. Indeed, for

long, Pollachi fibre has been used in Kerala for spinning Mangadan yam. In Pollachi, the

fibre is used also for manufacturing ropes. The new technology package aims to produce

Anjengo yam. Would this fibre suffice the yam-specifications of weaving? Remains a

question.

The fibre produced in defibring mills is made from rapid-retted husks, it lacks the

saline element that gives extra-strength to the fibre, and is subjected to heavy mechanical

beating and combing. Could the yam produced associated with the new defibring mill is

wastage. While wastage is about 10 per cent in the traditional mode, it rises to 15 per cent

under the new mode.

The new spinning technology produces a new product. The new Anjengo yam

replaces the earlier Mangadan yam. The demand for Mangadan yarn was from within the

country as an end product. This demand has been by and large stagnant. The new yam

would be used for weaving mats and mattings oriented towards export. With new uses

being found, demand for mats and mattings has been highly promising in recent years. It

is expected that the local production would be integrated with the 'sun rise' segment of

the industry following modernisation.

This, however, has another side too. Mangadan yarn had a separate market for

itself. It faced little competition from other verities of yam produced in the State. The

production of the Mangadan yam in large quantities with the modem technology would

l3 For some of the 1950s ideas see M. Philip Mathew, 'Coir Industry in Trouble'. Economic nnd Political Weekly, Vo1.4.1148, Nov.29, 1952, pp.1226-27.

destroy the niche market within the country. This will force it to depend on foreign trade.

Will this not make it vulnerable to external shocks?

The scale of spinning technology proposed under the new package demands

reconsideration. The scale of operation is determined primarily by the working capital.

Under the new package, each co-operative has installed \would install 100 spinning

machines. Full utilisation of capacity would force the co-operatives to go in for additional

working capital loans. The many of the co-operatives are already in a debt-trap.

New technology can succeed only if it is supported by a manufacture and service

infrastructure. The existence of such infrastructure seems to have been taken for granted

perhaps owing to the fact that traditional technology had minimal needs on this front. The

village carpenters made the ratt. Its servicing need was minimal but for occasional oiling

to reduce friction. Usually servicing was carried out once a year in the month of Chignon

(August I September) when work was temporarily suspended for the Onam festival in

Kerala.

At present, defibring mills or its spares are not manufactured in Kerala. These are

obtained from Tamil Nadu. Spinnirig machines and some of its spares are made within

the State. There is, however, often a delay in getting the spares. Some of the co-

operatives have to close down for a few days due to such delay. As the spinning

machines have not been perfected, breakdowns are frequent. Unlike Pollachi that forms a

technological triangle with Coimbatore and Timppur, the villages in Kerala lie remote.

New co-operatives, dealing in spares and offering technical services, preferably set up by

the modernising co-operatives and involving both women workers and technically trained

women, seems a possibility worth exploring. Eventually the service co-operatives could

aim to enter design and manufacture of the machinery itself and thus help retain the

backward linkages of the industry within the State.

There are some fundamental questions. First, the new technology requires much

financial investment. To what extent such investment is justified? Can't we have less

complicated, less expensive methods to attain the goals envisaged by new technology?

Is there any possibility of increasing value-addition without recourse to technological

change?

There is an imperative need for further study on these and several other important

issues relating to technological change. Such studies could probably form an ideal

starting point for a new trajectory of technological change.

The ongoing technological change is initiated from the top. The 'top' includes

bureaucrats, at the State and Central levels, and scientists. It includes the Party and trade

union headquarters as well. The State directives come with the offer of necessary

financial assistance to install the new machines. The local co-operative officials have

only half-belief in the new technology. Yet, plagued by shortage of finance they are all

too keen to receive the loans and subsidies that accompany the new technology.

The technological modernisation has now the full blessings of the political

parties. The Party factions in the co-operative faithfully cany out the Party directives.

The fieldwork reveals that the issue of technological modernisation was not discussed in

any co-operatives, in a larger forum than the Board of Directors. The workers were aware

of the move, but they were never given a formal chance to seek clarification or give their

opinion. As a result, the ongoing technological change, for them, is something happens.

It appears to them almost like some new machines suddenly being dropped into their

131

workplace. The political-administrative structure excludes workers from decision-making.

They are conceived as inert objects of development planning or political action. The

exclusion may not be premeditated but its manifestation is elitist and patriarchal. Such

mode of introduction of technology is bound to have implications on the manner and pace

of technological diffusion as

Issues pertaining to work environment

The physical conditions of work in the traditional method in this industry are very

hard and strenuous. The process of retting was done by workers standing waist-deep in

the retting pits. Retted husk is carried by head-load to the defibring site. Defibring

demands working in uncomfortable squatting position near the swampy backwater side.

While spinning the worker has to walk forward and backward several kilometres a day

between the spinning wheels. As all these operations are done out door the workers are

exposed to rain and sun. During the mansoon period due to the heavy rains the work

comes to a halt and the workers are pushed to starvation.

Such conditions of work affect the health of the workers. It causes high incidence

of certain diseases among coir workers especially women. The common diseases found

among them are allergic problems of skin and respiratory system, body ache, chest pain,

rheumatism, gynaecological complaint, headache, stomach-ache and vomiting.

A study on the health problems of women workers in the Cior spinning industry

showed that in the co-operative segment 68 per cent of the workers complained of allergy

and respiratory infections, 49 percent of chest pain, 39 percent rheumatic problems and 52

per cent of body ache. The workers seek consultation at the government hospitals. But as

" K.T.Rammohan,Technological changes in Kcralalndustry.C.D.S, Thiruvananthapuram, p.24 132

drugs are rarely available in the government hospitals, they have to spend a significant

part of their income on medicine^,'^

A researcher from abroad observing the tragic working environment of the Cior

workers commended that " Work gets inscribed on the body of the coir workers. A coir

worker can easily be identified by her appearance. Her cloths, body and hair are soaked

with the stinking black juice of retted husk that splashes around during beating, her hands

callous from wielding the mallet and from the hard fibre mbbing along the fingers and if

she is a lifetime spinner, her feet curved outward as a result of the endless walking

towards the back on spinning." [Olga Nieuwenhuys, Angels with Callous Hands:

Children's work in rural Kerala (India), Vnja Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1990, p. 109. ]

The new spinning machines allow workers to sit and spin, eliminating thus the walking

between the wheels characteristic of the prevailing technology. As all production

operations would be shifted from open air to in-door work can be done even in adverse

weather conditions

SUMMARY

This Chapter deals with the Impact of Technological Change on Cost of

Production. The researcher compares the cost aspects of traditional technology and the on

going modem technology at retting, defibring, spinning and weaving stages.

Traditionally retting was done by using immersing husk in shallow brackish

water for 6 to 8 months. Use of coir ret can now reduce the retting period to three days

from the present period of eight months.

" ~ i n d u Nair, 'Women's Health in a Traditional sector: A Study of coir yam spinning indusay in Kcrala', lASSl Quarterly, April-June 1997, pp. 115-122.

The new retting technique accelerates the turnover of working capital by

significantly reducing retting time. This method helps the expansion of industrial

utilisation of husks in northern pat? of Kerala where adequate natural retting facilities are

not available. This will also have a positive environmental effect as it avoids pollution of

backwaters. But the new technique is not actually cost effective. Another objection

against the new technology is that it is water-intensive and energy- intensive. However,

considering the other advantages mentioned earlier it is advisable to continue with this

modem technique.

Defibring denotes the extraction of fibre from the retted husk. The traditional

method of fibre extraction is by beating these retted husks with mallets against a stone or

wooden surface till the fibres separated from rotten pith. Only retted husks can be

processed manually. Defibring in the traditional process is done exclusively by women

Decorticators, alternatively called beaters are employed for defibring. For every

machine introduced 45 workers are displaced. Complete mechanisation of defibring

would, therefore displace around 60% of the existing workers engaged in the process.

Combining techniques to extract fibre from the unretted husk. The labour

requirements in the combining mill even with out automatic conveyor system are much

lower than that in the decorticating mill. Around 75% of the workers in the defibring

sector would thus be displaced if the entire production were to be undertaken in the

combining mills. As retting is not requires for defibring it will replace workers engaged in

retting also.

Retrenchment thus falls upon socially disempowered sections. There is an

important social dimension to this displacement of workers. With the experience of the

134

already working decorticators, the new technology might cause not only an absolute fall

in employment for women but also losing out employment to male workers.

Another impact is that, the women will be sidelined as well. The machine

operatives are invariably men. Women are entrusted with carrying husk to the mill and

collecting and carrying fibre etc. This indicates the need for conscious gender planning in

introducing the new defibring technology.

The technology existed before modemisation in the spinning sector was very

primitive. Spinning can broadly be divided into two viz. The hand-spinning sector and the

spindle spinning sector. Coir yam spun in different localities varies in terms of twist, and

rune. Anjengo, Ashtarnudy, Mangadan, Aratory, Cadapuram, Vycome, Beachyam,

Parumarman, Muppiri, Rope yam etc., are some of the important varieties of coir yam

produced. Because of these differences in the quality of these verities their end uses also

varies.

Electric motor-powered spinning machines (motorised ratt) is replacing the

traditional spinning wheels operated by hand and treadle ratts. The yam yielded by the

machines would be the finer variety yam that could be used for weaving. The new

spinning machines also allow workers to sit and spin, eliminating thus the walking

between the wheels characteristic of the prevailing technology.

Machine Spinning with automatic feeding Mechanism is another alternative

available for spinning coir yarn. The uniformity of thickness and twist in a length of yam

varies in the traditional method according to the skill of the worker. The difference in

thickness and twist of yam reduces the tensile strength of yam. So also since it is not

possible for the traditional method to maintain continuous length of yam, short husks of

135

yam are spliced together before export. This further reduces the tensile strength. Hence

there has been a steady rise in demand for machine spun yam in the international market.

The traditional technologies are the most labour intensive. The employment

potential of traditional techniques has indeed been the main argument put forward for

their preservation. However, with respect to other criteria the traditional techniques rank

relatively low. The quality of products in the traditional technology is inferior except in

the case of fibre extraction. Even in fibre extraction, there is ample scope for improving

the combing technique to standardise product quality. Moreover there is no statistical

evidence for the inferior quality of mechanically extracted fibre when fully retted husks

are used.

The absence of a guaranteed high tensile strength of the traditionally made yarn

has been the main reason for the loss of the UK yarn market in hop cultivation.

Machine spun yam is a solution to these problems. However machine spun yam

has certain technical limitations. It can not be used for pile mats, as there is a cotton lead

thread within the yam. In case of thinner yarn like superior Anjengo of longer w a g e ,

the lead thread tends the show up through the yam. All these technical snags can be

overcome and cost advantages for machine spinning can be acquired through a further

improvement in technology or change in the relative wages.

In the weaving processes, Coir mats and mattings are woven on handlooms in the

traditional technology. But due to the peculiarities of coir yam. Skidding was a major

problem with the traditional mats and mattings.

Automatic power-loom is an alternative to handloom. This was till recently

unacceptable to the trade unions due to the fear of severe displacement of workers. As per

the lndo - Dutch studies on development alternatives only 23 per cent of the traditional

work force would be required if the entire matting sector were to be mechanised. Despite

the fears of unemployment and objections from various quarters automatic power-looms

came up in Kerala. Output per weaver is around 20 - 25 times higher than the output of a

manual weaver. However this technology requires a huge financial outlay. Hence power-

loom weaving is not a viable technological option for the industry at present.

Semi Automatic Loom Weaving is a modified traditional loom. The conversion

charge of producing matting by semi-automatic loom is less compared to handloom and

the quality of products is much better. From the point of labour displacement it is

relatively much better than the automatic power looms. Considering the circumstances

prevailing in Kerala this seems to be the only option.

The pith is a waste obtained at the fibre extraction process. It is now possible to

compost coir pith into an enriched fertiliser called 'pithplus'. Pith is also now baled into

bricks of a compact size for export. The pith bricks when immersed in water swells up

and regains the original volume. It finds wide use in in-door horticulture in Europe.

It is observed that the fibre produced in defibring mills is made from rapid-retted

husks, it lacks the saline element that gives extra-strength to the fibre, and is subjected to

heavy mechanical beating and combing. The production of the Mangadan yam in large

quantities with the modem technology would destroy the niche market for it within the

country. This will force it to depend on foreign trade.

It is further observed that the new technology can succeed only if it is supported

by a manufacture and service infrastructure.

There are some fundamental questions. First, the new technology requires much

financial investment. To what extent such investment is justified? The ongoing

technological change is initiated from the top. The local co-operative officials have only

half-belief in the new technology. The political-administrative structure excluded workers

from decision-making. This exclusion may not be premeditated but it is bound to have

implications on the manner and pace of technological diffision.

A special rehabilitation scheme that is meant for absorbing the employees

displaced due to the modemisation process might be drawn up. Thus the transmission to

the new technology can be planned to take place with least disruption. There is an

imperative need for further study on these and several other important issues relating to

technological change. Such studies could probably form an ideal starting point for a new

trajectory of technological change.