The Philippines is among the world’s largest producers of fiber vegetation. It is blessed with optimal weather conditions, great types of soil, possibly distribution of rain all year round, and other related factors, which make growing dietary fiber crops good. Abaca, organic cotton, maguey, pineapple, and ramie are just a few fiber plants grown in the country. These plants are used for making different products sold in regional and intercontinental markets. The raw materials we get from dietary fiber crops happen to be valued for strength and durability.
These fiber plants provide us with materials utilization in making garments, linen, carriers, nets, house shoes, doormats, exercise mats, and others. Needs for dietary fiber crops today are elevating in regional and overseas markets. Due to high technology, production and processing of fiber plants have been made easy and accessible. Thus, increasing demands intended for fiber plants are easily met. Today, dietary fiber crops are considered as one of the important agricultural products of the country.
Varieties:
Abaca ” one of the valuable indigenous plants of the Philippines.
Abaca can be described as banana-like plant. The trunk area of the herb consists of 92% water. The finer fibers, often about five meters (15 feet. ) long, are used for weaving cloth. The outer, courser materials are used that manufactures matting and durable cordage. Chanvre has many uses and products just like Manila newspaper, copra bags, tea luggage, coffee filters, and protection and forex papers. Jute leaves are used for shading and wrapping. Tea leaf sheaths are used for roofing and for shading recently transplanted plant, while the dried up outer tea leaf sheaths are used for making trays, bags, wall membrane panelling, make mats. Inside the Bicol region (Albay, Camarines, and Sorsogon), the most varieties of abaca expanded are Itom, Itolus 45, Lausigon, Lausmug 24, Sagurud, Samina, Sugmad, and Tinawagan. Cotton ” locally generally known as bulak. It is the most adjustable and one of the most widely used fabric. Cotton lint is the fiber used for fabrics. Its fibers have an excellent economic importance as a raw material used that manufactures cloth, interlaced cotton, bedding, pillows, threads, and twines.
Its common use is generally due to the relieve in which it is fibers could be spun in yarn. The skills, absorbency, and capacity of cotton to become washed and dyed likewise make it adaptable into a considerable number of textile items. The types most recommended intended for planting happen to be Batangas White and Kapas Purao. Maguey (Agave cantala) ” it is commercial creation began in 1904. Modest or short rainy periods and lengthy dry periods are suitable for growing maguey. A lot of rain can be harmful to the plant. The materials are dried and bleached during dry, warm, and bright times. The leaves of maguey are thicker and pulpy with sharp points and spiny margins. The stalk or stem is stout and somewhat short. This plant expands slowly and flowers only one time. It goes up up to a level of 6 meters and has unpleasant odor.
Maguey fibers are being used in making towel, coiled basket, cord, seafood net, hammock, sole of sued shoes or boots, and others. Three famous different types of maguey inside the Philippines are Maguey (Agave cantala), Henequen (Agave fourcroydes), and Zapupe (Agave zapupe). Pineapple ” Cabezine or maybe the Queen Selection is the just variety of pineapple commonly elevated for fibers production. This variety is employed in generating piña jusi, which is the fabric in barong and other beautiful filipiniana dresses. The Princess or queen Variety includes a smaller top but has long and spiny leaves. The leaves grow to about 100 cm lengthy and six. 5 centimeter wide. Pineapples may grow in about any part of the Thailand especially in Cavite, Batangas, and Bukidnon. Ramie ” named a valuable commodity even in ancient China and tiawan, where may be to have originated.
Commercial with regard to ramie can be increasing because of its may uses. Ramie fibres are extremely long, glossy, durable, very soft, and stronger than organic cotton. Ramie is likewise resistant to chemical substances and mildew. Ramie is additionally readily dyed but hard to ” spin “. It is the best fiber overhead known. Aside from its power, ramie fibers does not expand or get smaller. Ramie is definitely blended with cotton and also other fibers to produce high-quality upholstery materials, tapestries, clothing, hand bags, ropes, efficiency for wires, fish lines, nets, shoelaces, and other materials. The famous number of ramie can be Boehmeria nivea. This variety is local to Cina and to called China lawn.
Preparing the Soil to get Planting Fibers Crops
Terrain preparation is either done by creature or mechanised power. Harrowing and plowing must be done completely so that the ground will be pulverized well. In the event harrowing and plowing are carried out correctly, weeds and bug eggs that might be in the dirt will be ruined. Sites for planting dietary fiber crops (except for abaca) need to be plowed and harrowed twice. Do the second tillage option for least seven days after the 1st to make sure that weeds are already dried out.
Planting Fibers Crops
Jute
If the sowing of chanvre is to be done on a cleansed land and if plowing and harrowing are actually done, gaps should be dug mechanically. The dimensions of the openings should range from 40-50 cm in diameter and 30-40 cm profound. Digging slots ca be also done personally. There are 3 ways of space abaca the moment planting. They are square, quincunx, and double-row methods. Sq . Method ” the chanvre suckers or perhaps rootstocks will be planted in holes three meters a part along the straight row and also three metres along the horizontal row.
Quincunx Method ” the plant life are rooted three yards apart along the first horizontally row. The first plant in the second horizontal line is set between your first plus the second crops of the first horizontal row in such a way that the three plants will be equidistant by each other. All of the plants inside the second horizontal row can also be spaced three meters a part. Double-row Approach ” the spacing in the first two plants over the first horizontal row is definitely three meters apart, the next plant can be spaced five meters through the second, the next and the 4th plants are spaced three meters aside, and so on. Every single plant within a pair is usually spaced 3 meters in addition to each other, and each pair is definitely five yards away from the subsequent pair.
Silk cotton
Treat the cottonseeds before planting. Seed products should be sown at a distance of 30 centimeter between series and 75 cm between hills. Plant three to seed every hill. If the seedlings are overcrowded every hill, thinning can be done. Unless of course the seed products show a fantastic probability of germination, the number of seeds sown per hill may be lowered.
Maguey
In planting maguey, the distance among rows can be 2 . five or a few m and 2 or perhaps 2 . 5 m among rows. In the event plants had been planted close to one another, the leaves might cross and cut each other during solid winds. In the event the area pertaining to planting maguey is arid and rugged, extra garden soil preparation is no longer needed. Slightly weeding and digging of holes pertaining to the plants can be done. The propagating materials used for seeding maguey happen to be seeds, bulbs, and pushovers. Seed hardly ever used for commercial planting. If bulbs are to be used, they should be grown initially in a baby room bed till they reach a elevation of about 31 cm ahead of transplanting. On the other hand, suckers of around 30 centimeter high could be planted as soon as they are lower from the mother or father plants. Grow suckers flawlessly upright as a way not to enable soil to fall in involving the leaves if not the vegetation will rot.
Pineapple
Pineapple is asexually propagated employing suckers (develop from the leaf axils with the stem), slipping (developed through the flower stalks), and crowns (leafy green tops from the fruit). Almost never does a gardener use seeds as propagating material. Pineapples are planted two to five series per understructure with a distance of 30-46 cm among hills and 45-50 cm between rows. Crown endure fruits in 22-24 a few months, slips in 20 a few months, and pushovers in 17 months. To prevent damaging the planting elements and crushed stone sifting in to the bud, do not plant those to deep on the ground.
Ramie
Ramie plant could be sexually and asexually propagated. Seeds will be seldom used for planting ramie. The method utilized in planting is definitely the indirect approach, wherein seed products are sown first into a seed field or seedbed. After two to three weeks, seedlings can be transplanted into the discipline. In the commercial scale propagation of ramie, asexuado propagation is required using fully developed cuttings or perhaps reproductive beginnings (rhizomes). Select brown stems (preferably how big is a business lead pencil) with three to four nodes and at least half to a single foot extended. Cuttings will be planted within a slanting placement at forty-five degrees, one to two inches profound in the furrows, and protected with dirt. The time of planting depends on the locality, when distance of planting depends upon soil range and male fertility.
Appropriate Hydrant for Developing Fiber Vegetation
Like any different plants, fiber crops need enough hydrant. The wet season is suitable for seeding fiber crops. Water is essential during the time of growing, transplanting, growth, and progress fiber plants like silk cotton, ramie, and jute. Yet , drought-resistant fibers crops just like abaca, maguey, and blueberry need less water once fully designed. The following ways of irrigation could possibly be used: cost to do business irrigation, area irrigation, and subsurface water sources.
Control of Weeds
Cultivation of soil aids in controlling the weeds before additional damage may occur. In the production of fiber crops, filtering is done as soon as weeds can be found. Control weeds by practicing the following:
applying clean planting materials
preparing the soil thoroughly
observing crop rotation and cover cropping
using suggested chemicals to get weeds
Application of Fertilizers
Thorough soil screening and evaluation should be done prior to applying fertilizers. The following are the recommendation in applying manures to different fiber crops. Abaca ” can be described as heavy feeder of nitrogen, pottasium, and calcium; it requires less phosphorus than other fiber crops. The usage of fertilizers intended for abaca may differ according to variety. To find the right amount of fertilizer nutrition, detailed soil and tissues analysis is recommended for abaca plantation. The ring method of fertilizer application is done in two equivalent splits, initially on the onset and last towards the end of the wet season. A farmer could use 75 g of urea per slope three months following planting and 150 g after half a year. After nine months, 150 g of urea is usually applied. Around the 12th month, another one hundred and fifty g can be applied.
Organic cotton ” provides extensive requirements for macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). At growing time, all the phosphate and potassium and at least one-third of the necessary nitrogen ought to be applied as the remaining nitrogen may be utilized two or three several weeks later. Apply two to three hand bags of urea by side dressing. Another application is performed before the its heyday stage. The fertilizer to get used for the other stage is two to three luggage of muriate of potash. In some scenarios, complete fertilizer is used twice or thrice just before harvesting. Maguey ” just one application of fertilizer through fondamental or area dressing is important. If aspect dressing can be desired, the actual application when the plants are two to three several weeks old. Apply fertilizers with high nitrogen content. Work with four luggage per hectare.
Pineapple ” apply the subsequent fertilizers with all the prescribed volume per hectare: 450-670 kg of nitrogen, 70-125 kilogram of phosphorus, and 220-460 kg of potassium. Ramie ” an interest rate of 250-450 kg of ammonium sulfate is applied depending on dirt condition. Other fertilizer employed can be animal manure, abono, cut leaves, tops, flowers, pulp, and bagasse, that happen to be applied for different rates. Fertilizers needs to be applied since top dress up before growing and after each harvest. Just before planting, apply fertilizers inside the shallow furrows of the selected and planted cuttings or perhaps as best dressing following cutting and weeding the plants.
Infestations and Conditions of Dietary fiber Crops and the Control
Plant Pests
1 ) Cotton pest ” this pest triggers young locations and leaves to deform and -wrinkle. To control these insects, spray any business non-selective insecticide. 2 . Cutworm and armyworm ” this worm usually feeds upon foliage and leaves in the plants. To manage these earthworms, apply virtually any available business contact toxic. 3. Fresh fruit and control borer ” the small larva with this insects bores its way into the fresh fruit and feeds on its way around the home. To control these types of insects, apply plants with nonselective insecticides. 4. Ancient greek leafhopper ” this insect destroys the plants by sucking the juice in the leaves. When ever there is a significant attack, the leaves change yellow and in the end drop off. Squirt the leaves with nonselective insecticides. a few. Japanese snail ” this kind of snail eats the leaves and leaves of the plants. Spray with any recommended suspension. 6th. Leaf tool ” this kind of chewing insect causes unwanted folding of leaves and stunted growth of plants. To control these bugs, use soap solution or any type of available business poison.
Illnesses
1 . Abaca mosaic ” the initial symptoms of this kind of disease is a presence of small and yellowish white dots on unopened or newly expanded leaves. Later, mottling will show for the leaves. These types of leaves then simply turn brownish to red brown and finally dry out. To regulate this disease, cut and bur the infected crops. 2 . Dumping off ” this disease affects the seedlings. The seedlings will just drop and corrosion until they will die. To manage this, sanitize the dirt before sowing and notice proper tillage operation to show the ground directly to sun rays. 3. Leaf spot ” the manifestation of this disease is the appearance of yellow-colored to brownish spots around the leaves. During heavy outward exhibition, this disease may cause defoliation and decrease in the production of fruits. To regulate this disease, use obtainable fungicides and observe preventive steps.
Harvesting
Like any other crop, harvesting fibers crops needs proper time to achieve the best possible results, optimum yields, and desirable quality of development. Be patient and observe right timing in fiber harvest production to achieve success in the business. Abaca ” sections are ready to get harvesting the moment flowers begin to bloom and once flag leaves and narrow leaves appear. Abaca is better harvested by 18 to 20 months after the planting period if seeds pieces are being used as seeding material. Succeeding harvest is possible at an interval of three to four months. Cotton ” flowering begins 8-10 to 9 weeks after planting. Every person ball (cotton fruit) is going to mature in six to eight weeks after blossoming. Harvesting of cotton projectiles is usually several months after cottonseeds happen to be sown. However , harvest occasionally depend on vast array used. the interval of harvesting could possibly be done for least 5-7 days. cotton is already older and prepared fro harvesting when it turns brown and starts to bust.
Harvesting natural cotton is usually completed during dried out weather. Cotton balls are often handpicked and placed in a dry bag or pot. Avoid loss and wonderful damage simply by preventing the balls coming from dropping on the ground. Maguey ” after your five to several months of planting, maguey can be gathered. Harvest initially the fully developed leaves around the base of the plant. As the leaves complete their very own period of maturity, they can be scheduled for cropping. Harvesting and retting is usually done through the summer months because the fiber is usually dries in the open. Generally, 10 to twenty five leaves happen to be cut from plants popped once a year, while thirty to eighty leaves are popped every couple of years in some places.
Pineapple ” the moment pineapple vegetation start to endure fruits, enjoying of pineapple leaves to be used in the availability of dietary fiber may start. Just like maguey, leaves on the basic are collected first before the upper leaves. Very careful selection of the leaves to get pineapple fiber must be done in order to get a lengthy, strong, and pliable materials, which in least 12 months old. Small leaves create weak and soft fibers, while overmature ones offer coarse, brittle, a nd short fabric. Ramie ” harvesting ramie can be done following 60 to 90 times or two to three months in the period that it has been rooted when dark brown patches appear at the back of the stem so when most of the panicles (loosely branched flowers clusters) of the leaf clusters turn brown. These kinds of changes sign that ramie has reached its maturity and is looking forward to cutting.
Sources: www.attra.org, www.bfar.gov.ph; Photos: rodima. com. ph, egytex. com, vallartaonline. com, dmtip. gov. tw
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