Abaka Fiber

Abaca is a native plant of the Philippines. But it grows wild well in

Kalimantan and Kepuluan Talaud, North Sulawesi. Abaca fiber in the Philippines
is processed into yarn. And in other countries, began to be widely used for paper
raw materials. The physical appearance of the Abaca plant is almost the same as
the other types of bananas. PIRU. Tanaman abaca (Musa Textilis Nee) termasuk
dalam pisang (Musacease) yang dikategorikan sebagai pisang jantan, karena
pisang ini, tidak menghasilkan buah. Produksi utama dari budidaya tanaman
pisang ini adalah berupa serat (fibre) yang terkenal dalam perdagangan
internasional sebagai serat berkualitas tinggi, sebab serat pisang abaca ini tahan
terhadap air garam sehingga banyak digunakan sebagai pembungkus kabel bawah
laut atau tali temali pada kapal. Namun belakangan ini serat pisang abaca (untuk
selanjutnya disebut sebagai serat abaca) juga banyak di gunakan untuk bahan baku
pulp kertas bermutu tinggi seperti kertas uang, cek, kertas filter dan kertas
pembungkus It's just that, Abaca bananas are slimmer with brownish stems and
midribs. The average height of the Abaca banana tree is almost six meters"The
main land is loose, and there cannot be a solid arrangement," said Istikhah. The
period for harvesting Abaca bananas is faster than other fiber-producing plants.
This plant can be harvested at the age of 12 months to 24 months. Istikhah said,
harvesting Abaca bananas was done by cutting the base of the stem. Then, the side
of the midrib is taken. "The midrib is put into a grinding machine to make the
fiber wet. Then, it is dried to dry and ready to sell, "he explained. Seedlings are
planted with a rather tight spacing, about 2 x 2 mtr (m). That is, so that growth
will increase. By growing taller, you will get a fairly long stem, until the fiber
produced is also long.

To obtain good results, one good plant family was confirmed to have 7-9
shoots. Therefore, more tillers must be cut. Before planting, the seedlings are
soaked first in an insecticide solution for 10 minutes to avoid spreading pests, then
dried.After that, according to Yudi, the side of the planting hole was fertilized.
"This system is so that the leaves do not look bad," he explained. After planting,
seeds need to be watered regularly every evening. When harvesting, one abaca
stem with a diameter of 30 cm - 40 cm can produce around 12 sheets of up to 25
pieces of midrib.Abaca plants are best cultivated on volcanic or alluvial soils with
clay texture, sandy clay, or dusty clay. The soil should be loose (loose) structure
so that it is easy to suck or release water. Soil acidity ranges from 4 - 6 and the
optimal pH is 6 - 7. The depth of the soil (solum) is at least 50 cm. More
specifically, other growth requirements are as follows:

1. Land

Although Abaca can grow on various types of soil, it will be better to grow if
planted on a loose soil structure or crumbly soil structure and not planted on solid
soil, and the desired pH of the soil ranges from 4.5 to 7, 5

2. Height

Generally Abaca bananas prefer low-lying temperate valleys, the desired height is
300 m above sea level. However, he is also able to live to a height of 1000 m on
the surface of sea water, but at that height the fiber yield will decrease.

3. Climate

Abaca banana plants can live in tropical to sub-tropical regions. The desired
temperature to grow normally is between 17oC - 30oC.

4. Rainfall.

To grow normally, Abaca plants need normal rainfall of at least 2,000 mm / year
but do not cover the possibility of under 2,000 mm / year, provided regular
irrigation is carried out because Abaca banana plants need sufficient water.
Irrigation is adjusted to dry / wet soil moisture conditions.

5. Attack
The desired slope of Abaca plantations ranges from 15-25%. Slopes above 25%
can also be utilized provided that terracing is made to facilitate maintenance and
avoid soil erosion.

Plant material can be in the form of saplings, whole humps or chunks that are cut
into pieces. While the varieties used are bontolanon, manguindanao, and
tangengong varieties. These three varieties are from the Philippines, but have been
entered and cultivated in Indonesia.