STANDARDS ON
AGROTECH
Dr.R.P.Nachane
Principal Scientist and Head, QEID
CIRCOT, Mumbai
What is agro-textiles?
 All the textile goods intended for
use in the agrarian production
encompassing agriculture,
horticulture, animal husbandry and
forestry can be considered as agrotextiles.
Some of the main fields
of agro-textiles
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Shade nets
Mulch mats
Crop covers
Anti-hail nets
Net for protection from birds
Fishing nets
Why agro-textiles?
 Increasing population pressure
 Limited resources such as
 land,
 water,
 energy, etc.
 Increased standard of leaving in
general
 Ecological problems, etc.
Why agro-textiles?
Can control
 climate,
 ecological degradation,
 efficient use of water,
 reduce use of herbicides,
 save energy,
 improve product quality, etc.
Different forms of
agro-textiles
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Nets
Sheets
Woven fabrics
Non-woven fabrics
Knitted fabrics
Coated composites
Requirements for
qualifying as
standards for
agro-tech use
Sunscreen
 Quality of nets required will depend
on the amount of sunlight required
for the crop as compared to that
available in a given area.
Net for protection from
birds
 Open structure with minimal shading
 Net opening sufficiently small so as to
not allow birds damaging the crop
 Made from material sufficiently strong
for birds not to be able to cut open the
net
 Able to withstand sun, wind, rain in the
region
Plant net
 For fruits growing close to the ground
 Separate damp soil from fruits to keep
the amount of fruit decay to minimum
 Should restrict the moisture reaching
fruits
 Maximum allowable level of moisture
transmission through the fabric to be
decided on the behaviour of the fruit
under protection
Mulch mat/ ground cover
 Moisture and heat transportation
behaviour of the fabric should be
studied.
 Amount of light allowed to pass
through should also be measured. It
should be ideally zero not allowing
any weeds to get light for
development.
Wind shield
 For protection of fruit plantation from
wind particularly in windy area
 Depending on the plant size or even
plantation size, size of the fabric is to be
determined.
 The level of wind that plant can easily
withstand and the maximum wind speed
attainable in the region to determine
fabric structure.
continued
Wind shield
 Fabric structure to sufficiently
dampen the wind speed from
maximum available in the area to
the level which the plant concerned
can withstand.
 Accordingly, fabric air permeability
and strength requirement are to be
determined.
Root ball net
 Should have sufficiently open
structure to allow roots to grow
through.
 Should be bio-degradable over a
period of time, may be, a few
months when underground.
Meshes for protection
from insects
 To keep out harmful insects from
entering green houses and tunnels
 To keep pollinating insects inside
 Mesh fineness to be adjusted
accordingly
 Mesh material to be strong enough
for insects to be not able to destroy
it
Tuft protection net
 To prevent removal of earth in
lumps during animal grazing in
grassy areas of river banks
 Should allow the grass to grow but
give sufficient strength to ground so
that earth is not removed with the
movement of animals
Crop/ plant covers
 Specifically designed to tackle weather
damage – especially during the
blossom, stoning and fruit ripening
period.
 Protection offered should be from
frost, rain, hail and wind.
 Should be tough with a high degree of
UV stabilisation and suppleness for
ease of handling
Packaging materials for
agricultural products
 Packaging sack for vegetables
 Tubular packing nets for fruits
 Textile reinforced boxes for
transportation of fruits and vegetables
 Should give strength and stability to the
package able to withstand the forces
during transportation
Almost all fabrics need UV
stabilisation to increase
the working life of
fabrics.
Also, they should have
anti-microbial as well as
anti-insect/ pest
treatments which are crop/
place dependent.
 Projected global market size of
technical textiles is US $ 120 to 150
billions.
 Indian market is about US $6 billion
(Rs. 30000 crores).
 Agro-textiles form about 1.5% of
the technical textile market.
Man made /synthetic fibres are mainly
used in technical textiles due to their
favourable price/performance ratio,
ease of transportation and setup,
saving in storage space and long
service life.
BIS initiative
 TXD 35 – sectional technical
committee for Technical Textiles for
Agrotech Applications
 Some standards have already been
approved and some more are in the
process
Government of India
initiative
 Steering committee for growth and
development of technical textiles under
the Chairmanship of the Textile
Commissioner, Mumbai
 Centre of Excellence with SASMIRA,
Mumbai as lead partner with MANTRA,
Surat and NAU, Navsari as partners.
Long way
to go