The Potency of Indonesian Ramie to Support Textile Industry

Abstract

Studies on the characters of ramie fiber and its potency to substitute synthetic fibers and other natural fibers, such as cotton, in both textile and non-textile industries have been intensively carried out, both in the form of reviews and research articles. In these studies, the results showed that ramie fiber with all its characteristics is very potential both as a substitute and as composite material in textile and non-textile industries. However, until now the development of ramie fiber in Indonesia has not in good trend. Moreover, the trend continues to decline, based on the number of the area of ramie plantation. The limited use of superior rami variety is one of other factors that caused the low and various fiber quality produced by farmers. Balittas has released one superior ramie variety, i.e., Ramindo 1 in 2007. This variety has potential productivity of 2-2.7 tons of fiber/ha/year, fiber length 2139.75 mm, fiber diameter 17.56 µm, felting power 114.29, flexibility ratio 0.63, coefficient of rigidity 0.37 and is classified in class III quality. Ramindo 1 also have the advantage of being able to adapt well to the lowlands (50 m asl) to highlands (1,500 m asl). Balittas also manages 88 ramie clones as genetic resources for the development of new superior varieties of ramie in Indonesia. This paper discusses the potency of Ramindo 1 and several potential ramie clones fibers as textile raw materials.