Skill Letts
VIEWS , VOICE & WAYS OF SKILLS
An in house journal of Additional Skill Acquisition Programme
FROM BANANA FIBRE TO BEAUTIFUL ARTIFACT … A success story !
Murugesan refers to himself an ' ordinary farmer '. " I own two-and-a-half acres of land where we used to harvest rice and bananas . Due to lack of rain and fluctuating crop prices , we were not making enough money ," he said .
Five years ago , Murugesan realised there was a lot of waste generated every time bananas and rice were harvested . Murugesan extracted banana fibre with a machine developed with the support of IIT and made five different products , but he was not able to market them . “ In order to market these products , I took the guidance of the experts from IIT Madras who under the village development scheme are supporting me ,” says Murugesan , whose products now get exported to England , France , Singapore and Malaysia . Bangalore-based Indian Handicrafts company gave his first big order to produce 50,000 pieces within three months . There was no looking back . Murugesan manufactures products worth Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh every month , employs 80 people and has set up a unit in Thanjavur just to stitch bags . His products are exported to UK , Korea and France . Murugesan is a recipient of a number of national awards for excellence and innovation in agriculture . He has received the best PMEGP ( Prime Minister ’ s Employment Generation Programme ) Award from Khadi and Village Industries Commission under the Ministry of Micro , small and Medium Enterprises , Best Agri Entrepreneurship Award from Chief Minister of Gujarat , National Farmer Scientist Award from Union Ministry for Agriculture and Best Entrepreneur Award from Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Jabalpur . His success has motivated many others to start similar banana rope making units in other districts also .
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For more details on production cost and requirements to start a business http :// 365days365businessideas . blogspot . in / 2014 / 02 / start-business-in-banana-fibre . html
Excerpts from articles published in Financial Express Jan 17 2017 edition , Hindu and Times of India on Organic farming February 2017 Page 9