MANUFACTURE OF PARTICLE BOARD FROM MULBERRY SHOOTS (MORUSINDICA L.) AND COTTON STALK (GOSSYPIUML.) -AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH

摘要

Cultivation of cotton (Gossypium L.) and silk worm rearing by cultivating mulberry(Morus indica L.) are the two important activities of intensive agriculture in rural India. Mulberry plant leaves/shoots are fed to silkworm in different stage and the left over shoots are either used as domestic fuel or burnt off in the field. An attempt was made to utilize this lignocelluloses material akin to cotton stalk in chemical composition for the preparation of three layered particle boards and also by blending with cotton stalk in different proportions. This will be economically beneficial to farmers as they will get additional income by selling left over mulberry shoots to particle board industry. In the present study the mulberry and cotton stalk were blended in proportions of 67:33, 50:50 and 33:67. Boards of only cotton and mulberry stalk were also prepared, and all the boards were tested for physical and mechanical properties. The study clearly indicated that the properties of board prepared from mulberry stalks are slightly better than cotton stalks. However, both satisfy the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Appropriate blending of mulberry and cotton stalk indicated that it is possible to manipulate the properties of boards depending on the end use.