La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno, Thursday, January 22, 2009
Giorgio Nebbia nebbia@quipo.it
The natural fibers are fibrous materials derived from many different plants and animals. The natural fibers of vegetable origin, consisting primarily of cellulose fibers differ in the seed (cotton), the stem fibers (hemp, flax, jute, kenaf, broom), fibers of the fruit (coconut), leaf fibers (sisal , agave, abaca); le fibre di origine animale, costituite da proteine, sono la seta e quelle del vello di pecore, capre, lama, cammelli, vigogne, conigli angora, eccetera. Nel 1960 la produzione di fibre naturali era di 12 milioni di tonnellate contro tre milioni di tonnellate di fibre sintetiche; nel 1994 la produzione di fibre sintetiche è salita a 20 milioni di tonnellate, uguale a quella delle fibre naturali. Nel 2008 la produzione mondiale di fibre sintetiche è salita ancora a circa 40 milioni di tonnellate, mentre quella delle fibre naturali è stata di appena 30 milioni di tonnellate. Un auspicabile aumento della produzione delle fibre naturali, rinnovabili, aiuterebbe molte attività agricole e zootecniche, e contribuirebbe allo sviluppo Economic and social development of many poor countries. Even the material properties of yarns and fabrics are in favor of natural fibers.
the International Year of Natural Fibres, sponsored by FAO, the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture based in Rome, and apartments ufficiaòmente January 22, 2009. The initiative aims to bring global attention on the production and use of textile fibers, plant and animal origin, the only ones that have been used for millennia, clothing and furniture.
nineteenth century until the early decades of the twentieth century natural fibers came largely from the colonial and fed, in Europe, a flourishing industry of processing into yarns and fabrics. Over time European countries have tried to free imports of producing substitutes for natural fibers first form of artificial fibers, obtained by chemical processes from natural raw materials (different types of rayon fibers casein) and synthetic fibers obtained by transforming into thin filaments of thermoplastic materials derived from petroleum.
The first synthetic fiber nylon was marketed in 1939, followed by numerous other fibers designed to fit the processes of spinning, washing, dyeing and weaving natural fibers used for. The great success of synthetic fibers has led to a slowdown in growth, some have disappeared, the production of many natural fibers.
For example, Italy was a major producer of hemp in Emilia Romagna, Campania and in Apulia, in the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century the Italian hemp was exported around the world in the next fifty years the decline has begun and now the cultivation of hemp in Italy and the production of fiber have practically disappeared. An interesting study on the growth and decline of cannabis was made in Italy by Benito Leoci, Professor of Commodity Economics at the University of Lecce. Similar fate has been the production of linen, yet a linen mill has operated for years even in Gravina. With the decrease of the required fiber many natural and agricultural areas of the European countries, especially in the backward countries have been affected by economic and social crisis in a few cases of natural fibers has led to local conflicts and internal migration.
attention to the 'ecology' has stirred up in recent years, interest in natural fibers, are considered "green" because obtained from renewable agricultural materials, mainly derived from large biological cycles powered by the sun
Nature has designed and "works" in plants and animals, the fibers with physical chemistry and you get to wear nice clothing fabrics for both d’estate, sia d’inverno, per arredi domestici, anche per applicazioni industriali. Inoltre la produzione delle fibre tessili naturali fa parte di un ciclo produttivo che comprende vari utili sottoprodotti.
Ad esempio il cotone, la più importante fibra tessile naturale di origine vegetale, è la lanuggine che circonda il seme del cotone e la sua produzione (oltre 25 milioni di tonnellate nel 2008) è accompagnata dalla produzione, in quantità doppia rispetto alla massa della fibra, di semi ricchi di olio (circa il 30 % del peso del seme) e di proteine impiegati in settori industriali e alimentari.
La produzione della canapa è accompagnata da residui legnosi, i canapuli, che trovano impiego as fuel or in other fields. The natural fibers are produced and used so far but only a small proportion of fibrous materials obtained from the plants, the initiative of FAO also aims to encourage technical and botanical investigations on other plants suitable to provide textile fibers, making the little-known local experiences and to encourage improvements in the various phases of production of natural fibers: the cultivation or breeding, separation, purification, dyeing, spinning, weaving. Many of these operations have been conducted so far on the local scale and craftsmanship, and their refinements can improve the quality of natural fibers business.
Better knowledge of the natural fibers are needed to increase organ demand in industrial countries and production in poor countries and poor, especially African and Asian countries, whose economies are primarily agricultural to one that can start even social and human development. If you look at the economic geography of natural fibers, the producers come together countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Nepal where they produce fibers of jute, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar, where it produces sisal fibers, extracted from the leaves of various species of agave, particularly suitable for ropes and bags, but also for bags and household equipment, alongside the large producers of cotton are also emerging countries like Bangladesh and Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia produce fibers extracted from coconut shell.
the International Year of Natural Fibres can help to disseminate scientific knowledge and goods in schools and universities. The world of fashion will make an important contribution by offering clothing and accessories with this new but very old, fiber, dedicated to ecology and human development in the poorest countries.
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