Generation of wealth from outer sheath of banana pseudo stem through package of equipment for rope making1

Abstract

Out of 14-18 sheaths available in banana pseudostem, outer 6-8 sheath give coarse fibre and rest yield fine fibres. Ropes from banana pseudostem are in high demand for different applications, but production is labour intensive. Hand spinning is very tedious and slow method. Ratting machine needs a lot of space to operate. Further, production by both these methods lead to non-uniform twisting and inferior finishing. Package of equipment consists of equipment for splitting outer sheath and equipment for twisting and winding of splitted strands. Cost economic analysis of package of equipment depicted a saving in cost and labour to a tune of 65 and 70 %, respectively. Package of equipment could be adopted for entrepreneurship development in banana growing catchment to generate wealth from waste.