Alappuzha (Kerala) Feb 4 (IANS): A one-touch automatic pneumatic loom to weave geotextiles, developed by the National Coir Research Management Institute (NCRMI), was unveiled here at the penultimate day of the five-day Coir-Kerala 2015 expo.

Coir geotextiles are woven out of the coir fibre and is a hugely popular degradeable eco-friendly material used in preventing soil erosion besides building roads in marshy areas.

With this new machine, the workers in the coir sector could soon see their workload come down dramatically as it is a hugely labour saving device. It can easily be operated by a single worker.

NCRMI director K.R. Anil said the new loom can weave up to 128 metres of two-metre wide geotextiles and can be operated by just one worker.

"NCRMI has not transferred the technology yet, but is exploring the possibilities of commercial production and marketing of the machine. The institute hopes to get the loom into the market soon," said Anil.

Most of the existing machines are operated using foot pedals and have a capacity of eight metres per day. They are very labour-intensive and require at least two people to operate them.