Agro waste corn husk - Leading to a new radical change in textiles

Agro-waste contains a significant amount of cellulose, primarily in fibrous form, which is often burned, contributing to environmental pollution. Transforming this waste into a valuable product can provide both economic and environmental benefits by reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, since it is derived from agricultural waste, the resulting product will be biodegradable. Corn husk which is an agro waste creates a huge problem of its disposal. If it is used to develop textile products, it would lead to value addition and generate additional income. Keeping in view the above, the study aimed at extracting fibres from cornhusk, determining composition, assessing various physical properties of extracted fibres and to enable the possibility of converting corn husk fibres into yarn by hand spun techniques. Cornhusk fibres were blended with banana fibres to compensate for their lower strength. Since both the fibres had similar chemical composition, blending could be carried out easily. Hence it was used for making products like mats, trivet cushion etc. where strength is not the primary requirement.A range of products comprising of yarn, rope, hand-made mats, cushion and eco home textiles products were developed. Utilization of a waste like cornhusk to manufacture home furnishings products would mean conservation of resources like land and water as cornhusk is a by-product of a food crop, maize.