Benefits And Uses Of Abaca (Musa Textilis)

 Abaca- (Musa textilis) is a tree-like herb, the leaves are upright, pointed, tapering and narrow. The trunk is noted to be smaller than the banana‘s, an abaca’s fruit is banana-like, small and full of seeds. The plants stem is the part that bears the fruit, which is heart-shaped. The trunk formed by the stem and thickened by stalks of the leaves, then turns reddish brown when it matures. The plant has wide leaves that are flesh-like fibreless core surrounded by its overlapping leaves. It has a sheath that is composed of three layers: an outer layer from which most of the fiber is obtained; the middle layer which contains some fine white fiber of flower with more tensile strength than that of the outer layer; and the inner layer which contains no fiber.
Abaca fiber is claimed to be stronger than cotton and harvesting raw materials provides economic benefits to the communities where the plant grows abundantly.
The canes of the following harvest are of better quality than those from the previous harvests. Harvest season is usually done during the dry season involving the forest communities where the plant grows and is grown abundantly. Like wood, rattan can easily be given whatever color the products require. Rattans natural color can also be retained. There is a very strong relationship between the rainforest and the rattan plant, rattan plantations in rainforest also supports forest maintenance as they provide settlers with an alternative livelihood from planting and harvesting. A sustainable application of rattan, provides not only ecological, but economic and social benefits as well to the product