Coco peat is helping farmers worldwide to grow crops sustainably. Tamil Nadu is a manufacturing hub for the eco-friendly substance derived from coconut husks. Coco peat retains a lot of water and is a popular alternative to sand.
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00:00Coconut palms as far as the eye can see. We're on the outskirts of Pollachi town in Tamil Nadu.
00:08Farmers have grown coconuts here for generations, but now they're in demand for more than just their sweet flesh and milk.
00:16The husk has also become a sought-after raw material, says entrepreneur S.K. Gauthama.
00:22Thousands of tons of it are produced every harvest.
00:25Once the coconuts are harvested, we split them to retrieve the coconut and the coconut husk, which is the outer layer.
00:36We do this with machines. Then there's another separation process, which allows us to access two further products.
00:44One is coir fibre and another is coco peat. So, in a coconut husk, one-third will be coir fibre and two-thirds will be coco peat.
01:02Coco peat is especially popular in agriculture. It helps young plants thrive, thanks to a key advantage.
01:10Each kilogram of coco peat has the capacity to hold 14 litres of water. It also keeps manure intact.
01:21That's why it's so popular with our international customers.
01:25Every year, India exports almost 900,000 tons of the useful by-product.
01:33The trend towards modern forms of cultivation, also in urban areas, is pushing up demand.
01:39Today, most developed countries want to grow and cultivate their essential foods sustainably in greenhouses or vertical farms.
01:51You might know that if you want to cultivate tomatoes, you can grow 4,000 tomato plants on an acre of land,
01:58whereas in a greenhouse, you can easily grow 8,000 to 12,000 plants.
02:05By using blocks of coco peat, you can save on water and manure, which also helps in large-scale production.
02:15India now sells its coco peat to more than 125 countries. The US is a key market.
02:2340% of the coco peat sold there comes from Pollachi alone.
02:28The fibre is pressed into 5 kilo blocks for transportation,
02:31but that's not the only product the factories in Pollachi have on offer.
02:43We produce around 300 products with coco peat, including seed germination discs and coins,
02:52cups, husk chips, and also coir growing pots.
02:58In agriculture, the coconut fibre can be used up to three times before yields decrease.
03:04One more reason why the by-product coco peat is such a valuable resource.