Higher public and private investments into modernizing and mechanizing the coir industry in India, the top producer and exporter of the fiber, can help farmers and manufacturers fight off competition from alternative synthetic products, according to the state-run Coir Board.

The central government has agreed to include Andhra Pradesh (AP) in the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor, said AP state major industries minister J. Geeta Reddy.

Karnataka’s poultry industry, which is losing Rs. 50 lakh a day for over a month now after a bird flu scare took a toll on chicken and egg sales across the state, will need six weeks to recover, according to an industry body.