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Baby camel wool versus goat cashmere: Which is really better? www.montsame.mn

Article by PhD Ts. Enkh-Amgalan, Green Gold and Animal Health project manager 

Asking the right question is as important as providing the right answer. The question I was originally going to raise was, can baby camel wool be a substitute for cashmere? If the answer is yes, then maybe the next question should be, can we develop baby camel wool products that would attract international buyers? Today, it is becoming more difficult to sell garments with “acceptable” quality and ”boring” designs, especially if the price is high. Furthermore, as environmental issues are consistently identified as the main development challenge of our time, world leaders have brought these issues to the center of the global development agenda. Feeling the immediate need for solutions to these issues, consumers all over the world have started to attempt to make culpable purchases, thereby investing in environmentally friendly production.

Mongolia, with over 65 million head of livestock freely grazing on natural rangelands, has much to offer to the world’s consumers when it comes to eco-friendly products of animal origin. Besides goat cashmere, Mongolia has the potential to offer other high quality natural fibres to the market, such as camel wool, yak down, and sheep wool.

As part of its goal to support eco-friendly production, thereby ensuring sustainable rangeland management and increasing the income of herder families, the Green Gold Project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Mongolia has been working to improve the value of yak down and camel wool over the last decade. Having seen the potential to attract consumers in the international market, the project started an initiative to develop products from baby camel wool. Compared to goat cashmere, the content of coarse hair in de-haired (processed) baby camel wool and yak down used to be 4-6%, while in goat cashmere it is 0.2%-0.3% or 20 times lower. One reason for this is that goat cashmere is collected by combing, while camel and yak wool was typically collected by shearing. In order to reduce coarse hair content, since 2014, Green Gold Project has been testing baby camel wool combing in Gobi-Altai, Bayankhongor, Umnugobi, Dundgobi, Dornogobi, Zavkhan and Uvs provinces. During these tests, it was realized that when combed, the collected fibre’s diameter is 15.4-16.1 microns and the average length is 38.5-42 mm, which makes it equal to goat cashmere in terms of quality. The project continues working with herder families in the Gobi region to deliver this exotic fibre of the best quality to appeal to international buyers.

Cashmere, well known as the most luxurious and best quality of luxury fibre, has been the main source of cash income among herders for decades. As the public is now aware that baby camel wool can be as fine as cashmere, there is hope among herders that the value of baby camel wool will increase.

Getting rid of old habits leads to new opportunities

Until recently, herders have prepared camel wool by shearing their camels. Identifying this old habit as the main reason behind the quality issue, the Green Gold Project has decided to introduce combing as a new method for camel wool preparation. In collaboration with researchers and herders, the project first tested this initiative in 2014. The test results proved that combed camel wool has much higher yields of quality fibre and lower hair content.

Camel wool consists of three different fibres: down, coarse hair, and dead hair. The coarse hair from a camel is 1.8-2 times longer than the down fibre. In this new technique, the coarse hair is sheared first. After that, the down fibre is combed from the rest of the wool. This technique helps to considerably reduce the hair content in camel wool. While hair content makes up 0.3% in combed cashmere, it makes up 3% in sheared camel wool. However, this number can be reduced to 1% if camel wool is prepared by combing.

In 2020, around 15 tons of combed baby camel wool is prepared by PUG cooperatives at the national level. The combed wool was supplied to domestic processors and, as a result, soft and luxurious products were made that could compete, from a quality perspective, with cashmere products.

We talked to Ts. Shirnen, one of the best camel herders in the nation, regarding how herders have adopted the new technique of combing baby camel wool. Ts. Shirnen, who is known for having the largest number of camels in Bayankhongor Province, said:

“As I have herded camels for years, I have always been eager to improve the quality of camel wool. Therefore, I have taken some measures to improve the quality of my breed. There are three top camel breed on my farm, such as the “brown” camels from Khanyn Khets, “red” camels from Galba Gobi, and “double-maned” camels from Tukhum Tungalag. We also have another breed of camel, the origin of which is not yet defined. The reason for putting more focus on the breeds is to bring the quality of camel wool up to the quality of cashmere. Because baby camel wool can be as fine as cashmere, herders have started preparing camel wool more responsibly. My family combs around 200 baby camels every year. The yield from each baby camel is approximately 1.5 kilos. We have used this approach for camel wool preparation for two years. Combing baby camels can actually be much more difficult compared to combing goats. Considering the level of work involved in combing baby camels, we hope that the value of camel wool will increase. In the future, if good quality fibre (of cashmere quality) is collected not only from baby camels, but also from adult camels, herders would slaughter less camels for their meat.”

Branding a one-year-old baby camel

According to a project study conducted in 2014, one-year-old baby camel wool can be as fine as cashmere. According to the results of this study, the diameter of fibre from one-year-old baby camels was 16.3 microns and fibre from two-year-old baby camels is between 17-18 microns. This shows that wool from one-year-old baby camels can be competitive with cashmere, the diameter of which is around 16.5 microns.

In order to introduce camel wool as a substitute for cashmere, thereby increasing the value of camel wool, the project is encouraging herders to comb one-year-old baby camels. Regarding the demand from domestic processors for baby camel wool, V. Bolormaa, a textile specialist at the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry, said:

“If only one-year-old baby camels are combed, 50-60 tons could be prepared at the national level. Of course, this is not a huge number when compared to cashmere, which is around 8,000 tons annually at the national level. This shows the rarity of this unique fibre from baby camels. Therefore, this exotic fibre should be utilised for making only expensive and luxurious products. It is crucial to prepare raw materials properly and make improvements in primary processing. It is important not to mix camel wool with other types of wool at the factory. It is also crucial not to make mistakes during the scouring and de-hairing processes. The processors have to be careful at each stage of processing baby camel wool. In order to increase the value of camel wool, we need to put this exotic and luxurious fibre, which is specially prepared through combing, into production and promote it in the international market. We could increase the number of environmentally friendly camel herds by adding value to their fibre”.

In general, the dyeing of camel wool is difficult because coarse hair does not take any colouring and the coarse hair content of camel wool is much higher compared to goat cashmere (goat cashmere 0.15-0.25%, camel wool 3.5-4.5%). As this makes the colour look tainted and unclean, domestic processing companies were not in favour of dyeing camel wool. However, combed baby camel wool contains only 0.2-0.5% of coarse hair, which should make dyeing possible.

With the successful dyeing of baby camel wool, the Green Gold Project has provided manufacturers with the opportunity to make garments that equal cashmere not only in softness but also in range of colour. This offers the chance to establish a competitive and more sustainable alternative to cashmere in the national and international fashion and textile markets. This will greatly support the intended reduction in the use of cashmere and, correspondingly, in the goat population at the national level.

Published Date:2021-03-09

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