Fibres

Botanically, a fibre is defined narrowly as a single long, narrow, thick-walled plant cell, and plant fibres are grouped for practical purposes by how they are used — textile, brush, plaiting and filling fibres, each with its own set of source plants, as set out in the accompanying classification table. Cotton (Gossypium spp., family Malvaceae), the world's most important non-food commercial crop, has been cultivated for roughly 8,000 years; commercial cotton comes from four species, two from the New World (G. hirsutum and G. barbadense) and two from the Old World (G. arboreum and G. herbaceum), and in India it is grown chiefly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, feeding the textile, hosiery, toy and hospital-goods industries. Jute (Corchorus spp., family Malvaceae) comes from two cultivated species — Corchorus capsularis, believed to be of Indo-Burmese origin, and C. olitorius, of African origin — grown as a major commercial crop of the Gangetic plains of India and Bangladesh; it is among India's largest fibre exports, prized for being natural, renewable, biodegradable and eco-friendly, and roughly 75% of the crop goes into sacks and bags, with the rest used for blankets, rags, curtains and, more recently, as a textile fibre in its own right. Coconut/Coir (Cocos nucifera, family Arecaceae) yields commercial coir from the fibrous mesocarp layer of the fruit, valued for being light, elastic, highly resistant to sea water and a good insulator; India and Sri Lanka have l …