Cuttings: Coir practices

THE Coir Association took umbrage at Gardening from Which?'s last survey of peat substitutes. 'It does not make much sense from the environmental point of view to take organic material from countries whose soils desperately need it to prevent erosion, or to use up fuel and other resources bringing it here,' said the magazine. Nonsense, said the Coir Association. Sri Lanka, chief exporter of coir, has stockpiled 20 million tons of the stuff and the reserves are increasing at a rate of more than a million cubic metres a year. Exporting coir brings in valuable foreign exchange. For the next round of the argument, look out for the results of Gardening from Which?'s latest coir tests, due in the Jan/Feb issue.