Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari

NAVSARI AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

Central Institute for

Research on Cotton

Technology, Mumbai

Manmade Textile

Research Association,

Surat

MANTRA

JK Paper, Ltd.,

Songadh

Creating lasting impressions

PAPER

March, 2011

DEVELOPMENT OF VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS

FROM BANANA PSEUDOSTEM

(An Overview of Progress)

National Agricultural Innovation Project

(Component 2)

STATUS OF BANANA PSEUDOSTEM BEFORE NAIP

NAIP Team

NAU, Navsari

Dr. R. G. Patil (CPI)

Dr. B. N. Kolambe (CoPI)

Shri. S. L. Pawar Dr. J. M. Patel

Dr. D. R. Prajapati Er. N. G. Savani

Shri. Vijay Anand Shri. K. K. Patel

Dr. C. S. Desai Shri. H. B. Vaidya

Shri. P. S. Patel Hardik Shah

CIRCOT, Mumbai MANTRA, Surat

J. K. PAPER Ltd., Songadh

Dr. A. J. Shaikh Dr. S. K. Basu

Dr. R. P. Nachane (CCPI) Shri. M. K. Parikh

Mrs. Manisha Kurhade Dr. S. R. Naik (CCPI)

Shri. Radhamohan (CCPI)

Shri. Sanjay Chechi

Shri. Kamlesh Patel

National Agricultural Innovation Project

(Component 2)

DEVELOPMENT OF VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS

FROM BANANA PSEUDOSTEM

(An Overview of Progress)

Dr. P. Rethinam, Retd. Chairman,

Coconut Development Board, Kochi

Dr. R. S. Gandhi, Retd. Director,

MANTRA, Surat

Dr. M. M. Mustaffa, Director

National Research Centre for Banana, Trichy

Shri. Arvindbhai K. Naik, Progressive farmer,

Padgha (Navsari)

Shri. Ashwinbhai B. Patel, Chairman,

Banana Cooperative, Kamrej (Surat)

Shri. Deepakbhai S. Patel, Chairman

Fruit & Vegetable Growers Cooperative, Bardoli (Surat)

Shri. Dinesh Zaveri, Industrialist

Palsana (Surat)

Smt. Deepaben T. Patel, Women SHG,

Athwa road, Surat

Dr. R. K. Goyal, National Coordinator (Compt. 2)

NAIP, New Delhi

Dr. A. R. Pathak, Hon. Vice Chancellor

Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari

Dr. R. G. Patil (CPI)/ Dr. B. N. Kolambe (CoPI)

Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari

Chairman

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Secretary

Consortium Advisory Committee

PREFACE

Place : Navsari (A. R. Pathak)

March, 2011 Vice Chancellor

The Vice Chancellor

Navsari Agricultural University,

Navsari - 396450 (Gujarat)

Banana is one of the important fruit crops grown almost in every

state of India (7.1 lakh ha). Apart from fruit, it generates huge quantity of

biomass as waste in the form of pseudostem, leaves, suckers etc., of these,

on an average about 60 to 80 t/ha is pseudostem alone. Presently, the

banana pseudostem is absolute waste in most of the states of India. In

order to develop value added products exclusively from banana

pseudostem on large scale, a project entitled, A Value Chain on Utilization

of Banana Pseudostem for Fibre and Other Value Added Products was

sanctioned during June 2008 under World Bank funded - NAIP

(Component II), ICAR, New Delhi in consortium mode with Navsari

Agricultural University , Navsari (Gujarat) as lead centre and Central

Institute for Research on Cotton Technology (ICAR), Mumbai

(Maharashtra), Manmade Textile Research Association, Surat (Gujarat) and

J. K. Paper Mills Ltd., Songadh (Gujarat) as partners.

The value added products viz., fibre, yarn, fabrics, MCC,

vermicompost, liquid fertilizer, quality papers, candy and pickles

developed/ prepared using banana pseudostem under this project is

culmination of the dedicated team efforts put in by the scientists of the

consortium. I am happy to note that good beginning has been made in

developing variety of value added products using pseudostem and hope

that the information generated will be of immense help to the farmers,

entrepreneurs, planners, scientists etc. It gives me an immense pleasure in

commending the efforts put in by the team of scientists actively involved

in this consortium for developing products from banana pseudostem and

bringing out this publication on the occasion of Workshop-cum-Training

Programme on Potential Value Added Products from Banana

Pseudostem.

Navsari Agricultural University

INDEX

Title

INTRODUCTION

PSEUDOSTEM PROCESSING

FIBRE BASED PRODUCTS

SCUTHER BASED PRODUCTS

SAP

CENTRAL CORE

TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY

2.1 Fibre extraction

Economics of fibre extraction

3.1 Fabric

3.2 Quality grade papers

3.3 Handmade paper and board

3.4 Handicrafts

3.5 Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)

4.1 Vermicompost

4.1.1 As organic

4.1.2 As a fish feed

4.2 Particle board

5.1 Enriched sap

5.1.1 As liquid fertilizer

5.1.2 Nutrient spray solution

5.2 As mordant

6.1 Candy

6.2 Ready to serve drink

6.3 Pickle

7.1 Documentation and dissemination

7.2 Field demonstration

7.3 Trainings and visits

2.2

No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Page No.

1

2

3

5

7

7

9

10

11

12

12

12

13

14

15

15

16

16

17

18

19

19

19

20

21

21

22

23

1. INTRODUCTION

In India, about 7.1 lakh ha area is under banana crop with the total

fruit production of 26.2 million MT contributing 14.7 per cent of global

the technological development in banana cultivation, its productivity is

also showing rising trend (Fig. 1). Apart from fruit, banana crop also

generate huge quantity of biomass in the form of pseudostem, leaves,

suckers etc. At present, this biomass particularly pseudostem is

absolute waste in most of the states of India and Gujarat is not an

exception to this practice. Not only this, but for disposing pseudostem

presently farmers are spending about Rs. 8000 to 10000/ha. Disposal of

pseudostem in a routine ways i.e., dumping on field bunds and burning,

disposing in nalla/natural drains etc. causing environmental problems.

The baseline survey conducted in Gujarat covering 53 banana growers

during 2008-09 revealed that 33 per cent are either composting the

pseudostem or chopping and incorporating it into soil while rest of the

farmers are disposing it either on field bunds or in nallas. Among the

farmers interviewed, no one knew about preparing any value added

Anonymous (2009) Indian Horti. Data Base, NHB, New Delhi.

production, (Anon.,

2009). In India, the

area under banana is

increasing steadily

(Fig. 1) because of

higher return as

compared to other

crops. Similarly, with

Fig. 1 : Area and production trend of banana in India

Area (lakh ha)

Production (million tonnes)

Are

a8.0

7.0

6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0

7.8

14.213.3

13.916.7

18.9

21.0

23.8

26.2

1991-92 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Year

3.84.7 4.8 5.0

5.9 5.7 6.06.6

7.1

Pro

du

ction

1

products from it. Further, at national level work related to developing

value added products from banana pseudostem is mostly restricted to

fibre extraction and products like handicrafts, hand woven fabrics, paper

products etc, are prepared on a small scale. With the sizable area under

banana (0.61 lakh ha) along with excellent network of banana

cooperatives in Gujarat, it was thought to develop variety of value added

products from banana pseudostem. In this context, a World Bank funded

project entitled, A Value Chain on Utilization of Banana Pseudostem for

Fibre and Other Value Added Products was sanctioned by NAIP (ICAR)

under Component 2 in consortium mode with Navsari Agricultural

University, Navsari as lead centre and Central Institute of Research on

Cotton Technology (CIRCOT, Mumbai), Manmade Textile Research

Association (MANTRA, Surat) and JK Paper Ltd. (Songadh) as consortium

partners with the following objectives.

- Standardize processes for extracting textile grade fibres

from pseudostem and prepare home furnishings

- Standardize processes of pulp and paper making from

pseudostem, fibres and scutching waste both at hand made

and industrial levels

- Develop value added edible products from central core

- Preparation and evaluation of enriched sap and scutching

waste based vermicompost

- Develop linkage for marketing of pseudostem based

products

After harvesting of fruits and leaves, pseudostem is cut near to

the ground level. On an average, the yield of pseudostem ranges from 60

to 80 t/ha. Presently, fibre extraction from pseudostem is being done

mostly by hand extraction in villages of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka,

2. PSEUDOSTEM PROCESSING

2

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The major

drawback of this method is extremely poor

fibre output (0.5 kg/day/man). In order to

mechanize the f ibre extraction