RietGoed – Textile of cattail

Long description

The Netherlands largely consists of peat meadow areas. Under the influence of artificial low groundwater levels in these peat meadow areas, subsidence occurs and greenhouse gases are emitted. If we want to make the Dutch soil future-proof and if we want to reach the climate agreement, something has to change. One of the solutions would be not to pump the land dry, but to pump it full with water. This will preserve the peat which stop subsidence and keep the Co2 that is already stored in the ground. However, expensive agricultural land will get lost then. That is why there is now a lot of national attention for adapting traditional agriculture (dairy farms) to crops that thrive in wet soil (wet fiber crops). This can counteract subsidence and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Cattail is one of those crops. In recent years, research has been carried out in various places into the cultivation of wet fiber crops, with the cattail appearing to be one of the most successful. That is why I am investigating the possibility of marketing this new raw material as high-quality as possible. So that a favorable revenue model is created for the farmers and it becomes attractive for those farmers to make the switch to cultivating wet fiber crops. In my research I focus on developing textiles made from cattails. Making textiles from a plant is not new in itself, but this is new to do with a plant that has its roots in water.

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