Kheri Lakhimpur Poonam Devi, president of the Ma Saraswati self-help group (SHG) of Samaisa village in Isanagar district, was overjoyed when she got a letter of intent from a Gujarat-based Altmat firm to purchase their manufactured banana fibre a few weeks ago.
Arvind Singh, Kheri’s chief development officer (CDO), has issued a letter of intent to an Indian firm. In the letter, the firm promised to develop a long-term partnership with the self-help organisation and placed an order for 200 kg of extracted fibre from banana stalks at Rs. 110 to Rs. 150 per kg. The SHG is situated between the Ghaghra and Sharda rivers, which are prone to flooding and erosion.
Arvind Singh, the district commissioner of Madhya Pradesh, started a trial project to extract fibre from banana stems in Samaisa village. The fibre isolated from banana stems was submitted to several firms for quality assurance and saleability. Each SHG member may extract four to six kilograms of yarn each day, resulting in a daily revenue of Rs. 400 to 600.
