Coimbatore: Scientists on the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ICAR) within the town have developed a gadget to make ropes from the outer sheath of banana timber. Scientists on the institute said they had designed the gadget in accordance with the requirement of folks excited about rope-making business.
The institute has been excited about offering engineering solutions for farmers’ problems, said Ravindra Naik, principal scientist and head. “In 2015, folks excited about rope-making business approached us to increase a solution to mechanize the method of making ropes from outer sheath of banana timber. A crew from our institute visited their administrative center and performed an in depth learn about of the existing observe. Based on this and the requirement, we designed the gadget,” Naik said.
The institute collaborated with the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy, to increase the gadget, Naik said. “Once the prototype was once designed and developed in 2016, it was once taken to the rope-making factory the place the entrepreneur tested it widely,” Naik added.
The banana pseudostem has 14 to 18 sheaths of which the outermost five to seven sheaths are used in rope-making, as they yield coarse fibre. The gadget developed by the institute is composed of two components, one for splitting the outer sheath of the banana pseudostem and some other for twisting the strands of the cut up sheath and winding them onto a bobbin.
The sheath is fed into the first gadget which has two rollers, one with grooves and some other with blades. Once the sheath passes through this arrangement, it's cut up into strands. These strands are then fed to the second gadget which twists them and winds them on bobbins. The gadget additionally has provision to change the number of twists of the rope by varying the speed.
P M Murugesan, an entrepreneur from Madurai, who presented the issue to the scientists, said he has been the use of the gadget for a year now. “Earlier, I used to be the use of a hand-wheel mechanism to make rope from banana sheath. It took five folks per wheel for the method and every wheel yielded best round 2,500m of rope. Today, the use of the gadget, we produce on reasonable 15,000m of rope the use of one gadget and with simply four folks in general,” said Murugesan. He said he provides the rope to four companies within the state and one corporate in Bengaluru.
The gadget has additionally been shortlisted for added investment by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “We had presented our challenge to IFAD last year. Two months ago, representatives from IFAD had visited our institute and held discussions with us and other stakeholders,” said Naik. If funds are granted, the gadget would be produced and given to selected banana farmers around the country.
MACHINE MAKERS:
The gadget has been developed by scientists from the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ICAR), Coimbatore, in collaboration with their opposite numbers from ICAR – National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy.
IN NUMBERS:
* On a median, a banana plant can yield round 5kg rainy or 1.5kg dried outer sheath
* From this, 70m to 80m of 3mm twisted rope can be produced
* From one hectare, about 2.4lakh metres of banana rope can be made
* This would give an extra income of Rs 1lakh per hectare
* The gadget brings down house requirement by 70% to 80% and labour requirement by 65% to 70%
* The gadget on a median can produce 15,000m of rope per day.
* The cost of the gadget setup is round Rs 1.four lakh
PRODUCTS MADE USING BANANA ROPE:
Using 3mm rope – cloth, bedsheets and bedspreads
Using 5mm rope – mats, mild sunglasses, window monitors, bags and yoga mats
The institute has been excited about offering engineering solutions for farmers’ problems, said Ravindra Naik, principal scientist and head. “In 2015, folks excited about rope-making business approached us to increase a solution to mechanize the method of making ropes from outer sheath of banana timber. A crew from our institute visited their administrative center and performed an in depth learn about of the existing observe. Based on this and the requirement, we designed the gadget,” Naik said.
The institute collaborated with the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy, to increase the gadget, Naik said. “Once the prototype was once designed and developed in 2016, it was once taken to the rope-making factory the place the entrepreneur tested it widely,” Naik added.
The banana pseudostem has 14 to 18 sheaths of which the outermost five to seven sheaths are used in rope-making, as they yield coarse fibre. The gadget developed by the institute is composed of two components, one for splitting the outer sheath of the banana pseudostem and some other for twisting the strands of the cut up sheath and winding them onto a bobbin.
The sheath is fed into the first gadget which has two rollers, one with grooves and some other with blades. Once the sheath passes through this arrangement, it's cut up into strands. These strands are then fed to the second gadget which twists them and winds them on bobbins. The gadget additionally has provision to change the number of twists of the rope by varying the speed.
P M Murugesan, an entrepreneur from Madurai, who presented the issue to the scientists, said he has been the use of the gadget for a year now. “Earlier, I used to be the use of a hand-wheel mechanism to make rope from banana sheath. It took five folks per wheel for the method and every wheel yielded best round 2,500m of rope. Today, the use of the gadget, we produce on reasonable 15,000m of rope the use of one gadget and with simply four folks in general,” said Murugesan. He said he provides the rope to four companies within the state and one corporate in Bengaluru.
The gadget has additionally been shortlisted for added investment by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “We had presented our challenge to IFAD last year. Two months ago, representatives from IFAD had visited our institute and held discussions with us and other stakeholders,” said Naik. If funds are granted, the gadget would be produced and given to selected banana farmers around the country.
MACHINE MAKERS:
The gadget has been developed by scientists from the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ICAR), Coimbatore, in collaboration with their opposite numbers from ICAR – National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy.
IN NUMBERS:
* On a median, a banana plant can yield round 5kg rainy or 1.5kg dried outer sheath
* From this, 70m to 80m of 3mm twisted rope can be produced
* From one hectare, about 2.4lakh metres of banana rope can be made
* This would give an extra income of Rs 1lakh per hectare
* The gadget brings down house requirement by 70% to 80% and labour requirement by 65% to 70%
* The gadget on a median can produce 15,000m of rope per day.
* The cost of the gadget setup is round Rs 1.four lakh
PRODUCTS MADE USING BANANA ROPE:
Using 3mm rope – cloth, bedsheets and bedspreads
Using 5mm rope – mats, mild sunglasses, window monitors, bags and yoga mats
City scientists mechanize rope-making from banana stem
![City scientists mechanize rope-making from banana stem]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
June 26, 2018
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