The Coir and Alappuzha

The Arabs had carried out trade in coir product from Alappuzha since ancient times. It was only since James Dariegh’s first coir factory came up in 1859, that Alappuzha came to be known as the home of the coir industry.  The Coir products are exporting different parts of the world. Dense groves of coconut palms spread all over the district provides the necessary raw materials- tons of husks. The back waters provide the facility for months of soaking to soften the husk and extract the fiber and it allowed easy transportation of raw materials. Coir dominated the industrial scene in this region, over other commodities like copra, coconut oil, lime shell and seafood, a trend that continued even after independence. In 1947, Kallelil Ragavan Pillai, a local historian, buys the shores of Alappuzha. By then Kochi had established itself as the commercial hub of the region its strategic location and all-weather port. 

Though Alapuzha’s importance was diminished, its connection with coir continued. The coir board was established here in 1955.then, the National Coir Training and Designing centre came up in 1965, and there is also the Coir Research Institute. Coir continues to be an important cottage industry for the local people. today Alapuzha’s, dilapidated old pier, with rusted girders and wasted planks, over which  trolleys laden with bales of coir products must have trundled towards waiting ships, just in to the sea  forlornly. But the new rail link established with Kochi might prove to be the long awaited blessing that the town needed to open its windows to international markets.