Traditionally, natural fibres have been used in all cultures for making utilitarian products. Different parts of the plant are used for preparing various handicrafts such as footwear, basketry, mats, chik, bags, lampshades, and boxes. Fibbers can be extracted from the bark (banana, jute, hemp, and ramie), stem (banana, palm, and bamboo), leaf (palm, screw pine, sisal, and agave), husk (coir), seeds (cotton), and grass (sikki, madhurkati, benakati, munj).
Main clusters: Fiber is found in many states including Maharashtra (sisal), Kerala (palm leaf, korai grass), Tamil Nadu (palm leaf, korai grass), Assam (shitalpatti), Meghalaya (shitalpatti), Bihar (Sikki and Munj grass), etc.
Major centres of this craft are Almora and Dehradun in Uttaranchal, Goa, Ernakulam in Kerala, Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, Midnapur in West Bengal, etc
