Agartala, Jan 22 (PTI) A common facility centre was inaugurated for converting banana pseudostems into value-added products, such as fibre, liquid fertiliser and vermicompost, in West Tripura district
on Thursday, officials said.
Speaking at the programme, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) Joint Secretary Angshuman Dey said the farmers can bring their waste banana pseudostems to the CFC at Lefunga and get high-value fibre after processing.
The North East Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) under the Ministry of DoNER has implemented the project to use banana pseudostems for making value-added products.
The value-added products include fibre, liquid fertiliser, vermicompost, yarn, fabric, and biodegradable paper.
Currently, pseudostems are discarded by farmers after collecting bananas due to a lack of facilities for reusing the waste.
"The CFC will be beneficial for the farmers as they can earn a sustainable livelihood by selling fibre to the potential buyers. This will be in addition to their income from selling bananas", he said.
Asserting that the initiative is a strong example of a 'waste to wealth' approach, he said community participation is important to make the CFC successful.
Dey said the DoNER ministry has been funding many projects to bridge gaps in the development process.
NECTAR Director General Arun Kumar Sarma highlighted the idea of setting up CFC at Lefunga and its impact on the local people.
According to Sarma, the liquid fertiliser has a demand for organic farming.
"We have 25,000 organic farmers registered with us in the northeast and 5000 in Tripura. They use organic fertilisers to get a better price. At least 20 persons will get direct employment at the CFC," he said. PTI PS BDC
