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New vitality for coir

( Update: 05/02/2020 )

Mr. Le Tan Ky - owner of a facility producing and processing coconuts in coconut industry in Phu Nhuan commune, Ho Chi Minh City. Ben Tre not only thinks and assembles a fresh coconut shell grinder to separate the fibers and coco peat but also creates many other useful items.

Mr. Vo Thanh Hao, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee (left) and the provincial delegation visited the process of producing coir mats and packages of coconut fiber from Mr. Le Tan Ky.

Coir mats cover crops

Previously, with the peeled coconut shells, Mr. Tan Ky often took them to the garden house to fill, compost or dump. But the number of coconut shells is increasing more and more, he must find a way to solve practical problems at the facility.

 He started making coir mats about 2 months ago. After grinding fresh coconut husks, he separated the fibers and coco peat. Part fiber, he processed into coir mats. Coco peat, he used as soil mixed for plants. The adhesive used on coir is a young rubber adhesive that has been tested by industry authorities for use in agriculture and food.

Coconut fiber is spread evenly on the iron grid and spraying young rubber glue. After drying for 5-10 minutes, then separate to rolling. Finished products are coir mats with size 1x2m, 3mm thick. This is the right size to cover the grapefruit root or to spread to spread the durian or bigger fruits.

According to Mr. Tan Ky, in Ben Tre has produced coir mats for a long time but mainly made from dried coir, the consumer market is mainly abroad. In water, gardeners often use straw or nylon to cover the stumps. However, through experimentation, Mr. Tan Ky realized that covering the straw did not kill the grass but also produced toxic mushrooms affecting the grapefruit roots. At the same time, straw decomposes quickly but is not convenient to spread fertilizer. With coir mats, overcoming the drawbacks, there are advantages more environmentally friendly than nylon. "The original purpose I made this carpet is to cover the dry season against evaporation of grapefruit roots and some other fruit trees," - Mr. Tan Ky said.

Every day at his facility produces 50 - 100 coir mats. After about 2 months of producing and selling, Mr. Tan Ky's coir carpet has started to find a market. Orders were sent to Southern provinces, especially the Eastern region.

Diverse applications

Also from the above coconut fiber treatment, Mr. Tan Ky made many different products such as vegetable packages, single grapefruit bags, double grapefruit bags, assorted grocery bags.

With coir sheets with vegetable packages, Mr. Tan Ky said that he has signed a contract to supply coir package for vegetables in Lotte (Korea) and Aeon (Japan) supermarkets in Vietnam and is preparing. go to BigC supermarket. A set of finished products from 50 - 60 coir sheets with coconut strings to tie. Tan Ky's coconut fiber vegetable packages have been tested by the authorities on the index of aerobic microorganisms, molds for E.Coli, mushrooms ... reaching quality and safety for using food packages.

According to the customer's order, he will soon use the technique to squeeze coir into plant pots, egg trays, vegetable trays of different sizes to replace plastic trays, plastic pots ...

“From the pressing in reality and with the desire to improve the quality of coconut and right and simultaneously solve environmental problems, up to now, with this method, my facility basically handles about 80% of the waste. coconut products. In the coming time, I will continue to create many new products to increase the value of coconut, to use waste products from coconut more efficiently ”- Mr. Tan Ky said.

Preparing for the Coconut Festival 2019, Mr. Tan Ky has been actively launching many new products from coconut waste, appearing at the festival. Innovative, environmentally friendly products are gradually asserting a role in the market. From the perspective of small and medium enterprises, Mr. Tan Ky also expressed his expectation that the Coconut festival will contribute to the promotion of Ben Tre coconut products, contributing to raising the value of coconuts.

 "I also expressed my desire to have more support and incentives from the organizers to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to boldly join the booth at the province's key festival" - Mr. Tan Ky shared.