Water lily as new abaca fiber?
March 29, 2009
Lovely water lily as next fiber source
There is a news feature recently that suggest that fiber can be sourced from water lily as well and this can follow the success of the abaca fiber that can be sourced from the abaca plant and pineapple fiber. The push for water lily, maguey and saluyot as the next sources of fiber comes from the Philippine Textile Research Institute. According to the PTRI Director, the use of water lily and the two other plants are part of their research, testing their efficacy and reliability as sources of fibers.
Well, handicraft manufacturers and makers here in Albay has been using thewater lily for many years now. This is known as water hyacinth and this material was made as the material for weaving and making goods, hampers and baskets. A Japanese buyer has been here 5 years ago I think and the buyer ordered tens of thousands of pieces of these hampers and baskets made from water lily. This goes to show that there is promise in water lily as a material and fiber. The nice thing is that the water lily that floats in Bato Lake were all cleared off thanks to this demand, and this helped the fishermen in one aspect in their livelihood. So good luck on the research on the efficacy of water lily and other plants as sources of fiber.
Picture of water lily for display purposes, and water lily found in the country is of the different kind.
