mesta fiber crop

MESTAfibre crop Monday, Apr

il 10, 2023

Agro

-304

Monday, April 10, 2023

MESTA

0Hibiscus cannabinus and H. sabdariffa which produces good fibre of commerce. These two species belong to the family Malvaceae

0H. cannabinus is f) popular in the Western world as kenaf.

0Hibiscus cannabinus is known by various names in India such as Bimli, Deccan hemp, Gogu, Channa, Ambadi, Gongkura, Sunkura, and Sunbeeja etc.

0H. sabdariffa is known as roselle, java jute, Thai jute, Pusa hemp, Tengrapat, Lalambadi, Chukair, Yerragogu, Palechi and Pundibeeja etc


0 Besides India the mesta is grown mainly in Argentina, China, Cuba, Egypt, Hewti, Guatamala, Italy, Iran, Indonesia, Mozambique, North Africa, New Guina, Peru, Spain, South Africa, Southern Part of Zimbabwe, Thailand, U.S.A and Russia



H. cannabinus (Kenaf)

0The plant is hermaphrodite, annual, producing large cream coloured flowers

0The flowers are short lived opening in the early hours of morning before sunrise and closing by noon of the same day.

0The colour of the stem is generally green. However, some types with reddish stem are also found

0Both compound and simple leaves may be found on the same plant


0 Photoperiodism plays an important role in the cultivation of cannabinus

0 day length of 13 ½ hours is good for cultivating variety for fibre purpose

0 a well drained sandy loam soil most suited

0 Mesta does not grow in waterlogged conditions

0 The seed capsules are cylindrical, pubescent bearing from 18 to 20 seeds

per capsule. The seeds are grey in colour. The seed capsules are cylindrical, pubescent bearing from 18 to 20

seeds per capsule. The seeds are grey in colour




H. sabdariffa (Roselle)

0 The flowers of sabdariffa are comparatively smaller than those of cannabinus

0 The predominant types have cream to light yellow flowers,

0 The leaves in 'roselle' are generally palmate, deeply lobed and alternately borne on the stem. The plants are normally non branching and attain a height of nearly 3 to 3.5 mts

0 Both H. cannabinus and H. sabdariffa types require following factors for their proper growth. 0 1. Enough moisture in soil during the growing period. 0 2. Rainfall should be at least 100 mm or more per month during the

crop cycle with a fairly uniform temperature.



DIFFERENCES 0 H. cannabinus (Kenaf)

0 The apex of the epicalyx (bractiole)is entire in cannabinus

0 The sepal nectary (gland) in cannabin us is prominent (swollen)

0 it is more or less rigid in cannabinus.

0 H. sabdariffa (Roselle)

0 inconspicuously channeled in sabdariffa.

0 it is much less conspicuous (shrunken) in

sabdariffa.

0 The stem of sabdariffa is flexible


Mesta in relation to India

0 India had to loose about 80% of total jute production area at the time of partition of the country during 1947. The jute crop needs a specific set of climatic conditions, therefore, the cultivation of jute could not be extended beyond the states of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, and parts of U.P. and Tripura. As a result the production of jute fell below the requirement of mills. Mesta can, however, be grown even in those areas where jute is not grown under wider climatic and soil conditions with much less care. This helped the country to expand more area under mesta. At present Mesta is grown in an area of more than 26 lakh hectares with a production of more than 12 lakh bales.


Andhra Pradesh

0 AREA : 143000 acres0 PRODUCTION : 501000 bales0 PRODUCTIVITY: 6.4 q0 vijayanagaram & srikakulam are the major districts


USES

0 PULP extraction from stem use in news paper making 0 FLOWER CALYX used in natural colours

manufacturing0 OIL extraction from seeds ued in soap industries also

used as cooking oil 0 FIBRE is used in gunny bag making, packing cloth

making


climate

0 A warm humid climate is considered most suitable for growing both the species of mesta

0 The sabdariffa being better drought resistant type.


soils

0 Both varieties of mesta grow on a variety of soils, including new and old alluvium soils. However, the rich loams give the highest yield, but acid soils are not suitable without amendment. With a high pH (above 7.0) of the soil, chlorosis appears in HS mesta.


VARIETIES of H.S

0VARIETIES FROM ( CRIJAF)0 1.HS 42880 2.HS 79100VARIETIES FROM AMUDALA

VALASA(SRIKAKULAM) 1.AMV-1 2.AMV-2 3.AMV-3 ( surya) 4.AMV-4 (kalinga) 5.AMV-5 (durga)


VARIETIES OF H.C

0 HC-583

0 AMC-108 [bhemily]

0 HC-269


0 SOWING: may 1st week to June 1st week

0 IN RABI : rice fallows crop

0 Sowing method is broadcasting or 30/10spacing

0 It is grown as a rain fed crop

0 Seed quantity and seed rate varies in between two species of Mesta in India. A seed rate of 15 to 17kg/ha under broadcast and 13-15 Kg./ha in line sowing in cannabinus has been recommended. Similarly seed rate of 13-15kg/ha under broadcast and 11-13kg/ha under line sowing is recommended in case of sabdarffa


Manuring

0 compost at the rate of 10 to 12 tones per ha is recommended

0 A fertilizer dose of N, P and K at the rate of 40:20:20 is recommended for higher fibre yields


Intercultural operations

0 Weeding, thinning and hoeing are three major intercultural operations

0 The basalin (Flucholoralin) @ 2 litres per ha as presowing (3 days before sowing) is recommended for Mesta weeds.


Harvesting 0 Harvesting time is very important in bast fibre crops like jute and mesta.

0 ‘HS 4288’ and ‘AMV 1’ are harvested when 50 per cent of the plant population is in flower

0 delayed harvesting give more fibre, but of coarser quality

0 . In Andhra Pradesh, plants are harvested by uprooting, which practice is not recommended ; in the jute belt, they are cut close to the ground, as in the case of jute. All HS types are of longer duration (180-210), whereas HC flowers in about 150 days after sowing


Fibre Extraction

0The jute plant's fibres lie beneath the bark and surrounded the woody central part of the stem. To extract the fibres from the stem, the process is carried out in the following stages :


0 Retting is a process in which the tied bundles of jute stalks are taken to the tank by which fibres get loosened and separated from the woody stalk. The bundles are steeped in water at least 60 cm to 100 cm depth. The retting process is completed in 8 to 30 days, when the barks separate out easily from the stick or wood and the fibres are ready for extraction. A development in recent years is adoption of ribbon retting technology in jute growing trade of the country.

0 Stripping (Fibre Extraction)

0 Stripping is the process of removing the fibres from the stalk after the completion of retting. Fibres are removed from the stalk by any one of the following methods :



0 (i) Single plants are taken and their fibers are taken off. (ii) Taken off a handful of stalks,breaking it in a to and fro motion in water. (iii) Washing the stalks first by standing in waist deep water and then stripping afterwards


Washing and Drying0 Extracted fibres are washed in clean water. The dark colour of fibres can be

removed by dipping them in tamarind water for 15 to 20 minutes and again washed in clean water. After squeezing excess water the fibres are hang on bamboo railing for sun drying for 2-3 days.

0 Bailing and PackingThe jute fibre is graded into tops, middles, B, C and X-bottoms. Packing into Kutcha bales about 250 pounds for use in the home trade. they are transported to jute market or direct to jute mills



yield

0 Seed YieldThe average seed yield is about 800 to 900 kg per hectare.



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mesta fiber crop