The Restoration and Transfer of Knowledge on Indigofera Tinctoria Cultivation and Indigo Paste Making for Improving Indigo-Dyed Fabrics Products in Pattani Province

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to collect the data pertaining to the history of Indigo relevant to ancient Pattani city, to transfer the knowledge of cultivating Indigo plants to community members of Panare District in Pattani Province, and to study the techniques and methods of fabrics dyeing with natural Indigo that corresponded to creating jobs for the members within the community. The result on the Indigofera cultivation experiment in 1 rai of rice field in 110 days exhibited that indigo yields could be harvested for 760 kilograms while the fermented Indigofera tinctoria to produce indigo texture gained 75 kilograms of weight. Therefore, the fermentation of 10 kilograms indigo leaves with 40 liters of water and 500 grams of lime paste could produce 1 kilogram of wet indigo averagely. The result from making the indigo paste pot experiment using local materials showed that the pH value to measure alkaline water from four types of ashes were ranged from 10-12. The findings appear that prototype products could be developed and utilized local fabric weaving, leading to the creation of added value through the research process.