|
ABACA, a
family of Musaceae from which musa textile is derived,
is a plant indigenous to the Philippines.
Although
it is also known variously as Manila hemp, Cebu hemp or
sometimes Davao hemp, abaca is not related to true hemp,
one of the fastest-growing biomasses known for the
“Green Future.”
In the
past few years, abaca (generating $76 million annually
and livelihood for 1.5 million people) has enjoyed a
remarkable revival, boosting the local economies in
Bicol region, where it is best grown, and which has for
decades shown the world the many practical and
aesthetics uses of the sturdy fiber: used for industry
in such diverse ways as making pulp, the raw material
for producing paper bills, to coating for pills,
cable-insulation papers and insulation for computer
chips.
It is
also a favorite material for tourism-oriented products
like bags and handicraft, and, with the ingenuity of
young designer, for interior decoration here and abroad.
That
revival was in part made possible by science;
specifically, biotechnology, which allowed the industry
to eliminate the threat to the plant from pests. The
revival with the help of science was so robust that the
state’s Philexim Corp. gave the local abaca business in
Bicol the necessary funding to kick it off.
2nd in
importance as leaf fiber
Abaca
fiber is second in importance among the leaf-fiber
group. Unlike other fibers, abaca fibers are obtained
from the plant leaf. The stalk is the source of the
abaca fiber, retrieved through the extraction of tuxies
from the outermost portion of the leaf sheath. Fibers
are then extracted through hand stripping or through a
stripping machine.
The
dried outer leaf sheath, also known in the industry as
abaca-bacbac, is used in making handicraft items. It is
skinny on the upper side of the leaf, but soft and
fleshy on the other side. It is not receptive to
penetration of colorants and has a low tensile strength.
Bacbac is sometimes called Havana hemp or Havana skin.
The
third and fourth layers of the leaf sheath, or lupis as
others call it, are brown in color and skinny on the
other part of the stripped fiber. It is bigger compared
with fine abaca. Like the bacbac, this part of the plant
is also used for handicraft items. It may also be used
in making fashion accessories, furniture, packaging
materials, tabletop accessories and other décors.
Early
uses: fabrics and sandals
Abaca is
believed to have evolved in the Bicol region. Long
before the Spaniards came to the Philippines in 1521,
our ancestors were already processing abaca into
breathable fabrics and durable sandals.
In 1821
a US Navy lieutenant brought abaca fiber samples to the
US. A cargo of abaca was sent to Salem, Massachusetts,
under the label “Manila.”
The
Americans later became the largest abaca importers as
the port of Manila was opened for international trade in
1834.
The
versatility of abaca fiber has been proven by its many
applications, from ropes, bags, hats, footwear,
decorative accessories and other items, and then to
furniture, fixtures, paper and textiles. A famous abaca
product is sinamay, or woven abaca fibers that come in
different colors and used to make clothes apart from
their being transformed into packaging materials and
decorations.
Abaca
fiber is also used for making pulp, which is the raw
material for the production of paper bills. The P20 and
P500 bills contain almost 20-percent abaca fiber. Tea
bags, coffee filters, meat casing, coating for pills,
cable-insulation papers, insulation for computer chips,
etc., may also be derived from the abaca fiber.
Advances
in technology
The
advancement in technology has made it possible for abaca
fiber to be used for the interiors of automobiles or as
substitute for fiberglass. In the US, abaca enzymes are
being used for cosmetics and skin-care products.
Even the
stripping waste of abaca has many uses.
It may
be used as a growing medium for mushroom culture, raw
material for handmade papers, compost and alcohol
production, while the residue from alcohol extraction
may be processed into waxes or used in making organic
fertilizers.
Abaca
fiber production is one of the Philippines’ greatest
contributions in the world trade.
About 85
percent of the abaca fiber supply in the whole world
comes from the Philippines.
Abaca
grows almost anywhere in the Philippines, from Sorsogon,
Leyte, Southern Leyte, Catanduanes, Davao Oriental,
Northern Samar, Davao del Sur, Sulu, and Surigao del
Sur. Abaca fibers coming from Leyte and Southern Leyte
are known to be the most durable.
The
abaca industry plays a vital role for the Philippine
economy since it earns $76 million annually and employs
1.5 million people.
However,
the entire industry is under threat by pernicious pests
like bracht mosaic, mosaic, and the bunchy-top.
To
maintain the country’s global edge in the market, the
Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Program Office
(DA-BPO), in collaboration with the Fiber Industry
Development Authority (Fida), Institute of Plant
Breeding (IPB) of the University of the Philippines-Los
Baños (UPLB) and some of the country’s top scientists
are conducting studies on the production of
virus-resistant abaca plants to increase fiber
production and thus improve the earnings of the
industry.
Dr.
Anton Lalusin of the IPB, a horticulture plant breeding
graduate of the UPLB, supervises the institute’s study
on the production of bunchy-top virus-resistant abaca.
Lalusin
started doing sweet potato research for IPB after he
graduated in 1994 and headed to Japan for his masteral
and doctoral studies on bioresearch engineering,
specializing in molecular biology.
He began
to work on abaca when he came back from Japan and noted
the focus was on the bunchy-top virus, the most deadly
among the three viruses.
An abaca
plant infected with the bunchy-top virus stops growing
and thus, no fiber could be derived from it.
The
first batch of their experiment was conducted through
conventional breeding, assisted by molecular markers of
the plant. The process of determining molecular markers
is similar to that of fingerprint matching. It is used
to identify a particular genetic sequence.
Lalusin’s team “Pakol,” a native variety of banana as a
parent of the abaca, since it has virus-free
characteristics.
The
group was successful in producing a bunchy-top
virus-free abaca strain. However, they needed to conduct
more studies since the one they produced was poor in
fiber quality. To secure the good fiber quality of the
abaca, they rebred the abaca plant they produced with
another abaca plant. They now have abaca plants that
contain almost 87.5 percent of abaca gene. The group
expects to harvest the plants this month.
To
further strengthen the efforts of the DA-BPO to maintain
the Philippines triumph in supplying abaca fiber across
the globe, other projects, like the production of the
first-ever Abaca manuscript, is being done to provide
more information about the importance of abaca.
Another
group of researches in IPB supervised by Dr. Dizon is
doing a research on the production of mosaic and bracht-mosaic
virus-resistant plants through e-radiation.
DA-BPO
aims to revitalize the abaca industry and transform it
into a leading product that is truly indigenous to the
country. (Biolife News Service) |
