Circular Knitting Machine Manufacturer & Supplier!

According to the report published by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), the desert is expanding at speed of 60 thousand square kilometers per year. If the range expands to dry land influenced by desertification, the area will account quarter of total land area of the Earth, about 36 million square kilometers. Desertification is not the future. It is the present crisis.

 

The main reason that plants cannot survive in desert is that the desert cannot retain water. Even if it is rainy, the rainfall will permeate to deep underground. The roots of plant cannot absorb the water. Without being covered by plants, grits drift away with the wind. The place that grits deposit will also lose the ability of impound, turning into desert. That is the reason why desert expands.

 

In the suburb of Johannesburg, the main city in South Africa, hillock of slag caused by mining spreads at the site of gold mine. The slag contains radiation and other hazardous substances. The plants cannot grow naturally. Grits fly with the wind and spread to the nearby residential areas, causing hazard and becoming serious social issue.

 

There is an oasis at the corner of the badland. A knitting enterprise – MITSUKAWA, manufacturing sports wear, successfully cultivated the lawn, using only 2 months. Shigeru Matsumoto, the president of MITSUKAWA recalled, “When I saw a TV program introducing desert greening, an idea appeared in my head that our knitting technology should be able to be applied.”

 

The knitted products developed by President Shigeru and applied in South Africa are called as ROLLPLANTER. The tube made of knitted materials whose diameter is about 10cm and length is about 1m is filled with composts. The matrix tubes are laid on sand just like checkerboard, two or three a group. Then, the seeds are sown between matrix tubes and watered terminally so that plants also can survive in desert.

 

The key is that the matrix tubes are arranged like checkerboard. Although the square surround by matrix tubes is still the desert, impoundment can be easily realized because of matrix tubes. Roots stretching out from matrix tubes also can become sprouts. So, plant can overgrow in the areas which are laid with matrix tubes. The tubes play as barrier to stop seed from flying with grits.

 

The materials of matrix tubes use polyactic acid fiber having biodegradability developed by Toray. The fiber is made of glycogen. As time goes on, the fiber will resolve into water and carbon dioxide, having less bears on environment.

 

Besides retaining required water, the other important factor is that the plants can root and self-grow, because plants hardly roots in lose desert and can be blew down by wind.

 

Using ROLLPLANTER, the roots of plants cross through knitted meshes, bonding together and firmly taking root. It depends on elasticity of knitted products.