SHILLONG: A group of youngsters, participating in a training programme at the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) has been successful in making bristles out of hair from pigs. The youngsters started the process of making bristles from pigs’ hair last year. This new initiative is expected help reduce the pressures of unemployment which is plaguing the state at the moment.
One of the participants H Lyngdoh, while explaining the process said that pigs’ hair is boiled for two hours after which it is dried followed by the careful process of fixing the dried bristles in teak wood.
Studying the properties of Pig bristles (hair), which are often discarded as animal wastes, the ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region (Division of Animal Production), Umiam, Meghalaya developed value added products in form of pig bristle-brushes.
The initiative is the first of its kind to be exercised in the state and the country.
The NEH region of the country houses around 28 per cent of the country’s total pig population. According to estimates, around 15.35 lakh pigs are being slaughtered in the organized sector annually. On an average, an indigenous pig produces 300-400g of high quality bristles, which means the entire NEH region will produce around 10-12 thousand quintals of pig bristles in a year. ICAR NEH has also developed a new method of collecting pig bristles through bristles-clippings in live pigs without affecting their growth. Quality production of bristles is expected to be a source of enhanced income among smallholder pig producers. The products are not being sold at the moment but it is said that it will be a high cost product and its price may range around Rs 150 mark
