Agro Textiles - A Review
Introduction:
Agriculture is the largest industry in the world. Today, agriculture, horticulture area has realized the need of tomorrow and opting for various technologies to get higher overall yield, quality and tasty agro products. Adopting the hi-tech farming technique, where textile structures are used, could enhance quality and overall yield of agro-products. Textile structures in various forms are used in shade house/ poly house, green house and also in open fields to control environmental factors like, temperature, water and humidity. It also avoids agro products damage from wind, rain and birds. Agro textiles like sunscreen, bird net windshield, mulch mat, hail protection net, harvesting net, etc can be used for achieving the above goal. Crop protection and weed control are the major challenges faced by the farmers in the agriculture industry. Textile industry is the second largest industry next to agriculture. Agro textiles contribute 8% share in the technical textiles break up. The usage of agro textiles will be benefited in terms of products with enhanced quality, higher yields fewer damages and bearable losses. This paper emphasizes the application of agro textiles in various areas of agriculture and horticulture.
Agro Textiles:
The word "Agro textiles" now is used to classify the woven, nonwoven and knitted fabrics applied for agricultural and horticultural uses covering livestock protection, shading, weed and insect control, and extension of the growing season. The essential properties required are Strength, elongation, stiffness, porosity, bio-degradation, resistance to sunlight and resistance to toxic environment.
The authors are associated with the Department of Textile Technology, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore
