DIRANG, 31 May: The National Research Centre on Yak (NRCY) here in West Kameng district, in collaboration with Kolkata-based National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology(NINFET), organised a 13-day skill development programme on ‘Processing of yak hair and fabric making’ here from 18 to 30 May.

The training involved processing of yak hair, especially the coarse hair, converting them into value added products for human use, using the common facility centre (CFC) which has been established at the institute through funding from the Central Wool Development Board, Jodhpur.

During the training, 14 trainees associated with yak rearing, including two officials from the institute, were provided with knowledge on yak hair and its processing using the sophisticated machines installed at the CFC, “viz,  softener, carding, drawing, spinning, automatic loom with jacquard, hank dyeing, jigger dyeing, hot calendaring, etc,” the NRCY informed in a release.

“The participants were trained in washing, cleaning, blending, bleaching, dyeing, yarn and fabric-making with stitching of garments like ladies’ bags, half jackets, kitchen aprons, file covers, etc,” it said.

The programme was conducted by NRCY principal scientist Dr D Medhi and NINFET principal scientist Dr Sanjoy Debnath, along with expert teams, under the leadership of NRCY Director Dr Mihir Sarkar.

Dr Sarkar advised the trainees to implement their learning to develop yak fibre-based entrepreneurships.