KENYA STANDARD   DKS 132:2023 
ICS 59.060.10 
Sixth  Edition  
 
 © KEBS 2023  
 Woven bags made from natural fibres for 
cereals and pulses — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT  AUGUST 2023KENYA STANDARD       DKS 132:2023 
ICS 59.060.1 0 
Sixth Edition  
 
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  ii 
 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
Agriculture and Food Authority — Fibre Crops Directorate (AFA -FCD)  
Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)  
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM)  
Ministry of State Defence — Research and Development Department  
Moi University  
Spin Knit Ltd.  
Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI)  
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
In order to  keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for 
improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are 
welcome.  
© Kenya Bureau of Standards  2023 
Copyright . Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of 2001 of  the Laws of Kenya, copyright subsists 
in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 25 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of Sta ndards 
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing f rom the 
Managing Director.  
  KENYA STANDARD       DKS 132:2023 
ICS 59.060.1 0 
Sixth Edition  
 
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Woven bags made from natural fibres for 
cereals and pulses — Specification  
 
 
  Kenya Bureau of Standards, Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road,  
P.O. Box 54974 - 00200,  Nairobi, Kenya  
 +254 020 6948000, + 254 722202137, + 254 734600471  
 info@kebs.org  
 @KEBS_ke  
 kenya bureau of standards (kebs)  
KENYA STANDARD       DKS 132:2023 
ICS 59.060.1 0 
Sixth Edition  
 
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  iv 
 Foreword  
This Kenya  Standard was prepared by the Yarns and Fibers  Technical Committee under the guidance of the 
Standards Projects Committee, and it is in accordance with the procedures  
of Kenya Bureau of Standards.  
 
Cereals and pulses are generally packed in natural fibre bags. This standard has been prepared to meet th e 
need to preserve the quality of the packed product and the need for constructional suitability of the bags. Since  
cereals/pulses have different densities and sizes, the standard addresses the common weights and the  
corresponding sizes of bags suitable fo r packing them. The strength of bags, being an important handling  
parameter, is also addressed in the standard.  
 
This S ixth edition cancels and replaces the Fi fth edition (KS 1 32:2013 ) which has been technically revised. The 
changes are as follows;  
 
-Referenced test methods have been aligned as in KS 1037:201 9 
-Causes have been re -aligned  
 
 
 
 
During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following document:  
KS 1037:2019 Woven  bags — Test methods  
 
Acknowledgment is hereby made for assistance received from these sources.  DKS 132:2023   
 
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved   
 Woven bags made from natural fibres for cereals and pulses — 
Specification  
1 Scope  
This Kenya Standard specifies the constructional and performance requirements of woven  bags made from 
natural fibres to contain 50 kg and 90 kg load of cereal s or pulse s. It also prescribes  the packing and marking 
requirements of a bale containing the bags, ready for dispatch.  
 
The standard is not applicable to small grain cereals (rice).  
2 Normative Reference s 
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the 
latest edition of the reference d document (including any amendments) applies.  
 
KS 1037, Methods of test for woven bags  
KS ISO 3801 , Textiles — Woven fabrics — Determination of mass per unit length and mass per unit area  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following definitions shall apply:  
 
3.1 natural fibre  
jute, kenaf or sisal fibre  
3.2 jute 
fibre obtained from the bast layer of the plants corchorus capsularis and corchorus olitorius  
3.3 kenaf  
fibre obtained from the bast layer of the plant Hibiscus cannabinus  
3.4 sisal   
pale clean hard fibre obtained from the leaf of sisal plant ( agave sisalana perrine ) 
3.5 ends  
yarns running along the length of and parallel to the direction of manufacture  
3.6 picks  
yarns running across the width of and ‘perpendicular’ to the direction of manufacture  
3.7 sacking   
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 coarse fabric made from natural fibres (see 4.1)  
3.8 joined bag  
a bag made out of two equal separate pieces of sacking  
3.9 bale 
a rectangular pressed rigid package containing woven bags made from natural fibres and covered with  
protective wrappings which are stitched and/or securely bound  
3.10 contract -mass (bale)  
the mass as obtained by multiplying the nominal mass of a bag by specified number of bags in that bale.  
3.11 lot  
all bales containing woven bags made from natural fibres purporting to be of specified dimensions and quality  
and definite number of bags deliv ered to one purchaser against one dispatch note.  
3.12 moisture regain (bag)  
the mass of moisture in a bag expressed as a percentage of the oven dry mass of the bag under standard  
textile -testing conditions . 
4 Requirements   
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1 Stitching thread  
 
The stitching thread shall comprise such material(s) which shall not have any adverse effects on the contents 
of the bag. The number of stitches per 10 cm shall be eight (8), minimum.  The stitch line shall pass complete ly 
and continuously through all the folds of the sacking leaving no gaps in stitches.  
 
4.1.2 Seams  
 
The side seams of each bag and the bottom seam if any, shall be sufficiently tight to prevent sifting or leakage 
of the contents of the bag.  
 
4.1.3 Hemming at the mouth  
 
The raw edges of the sacking at the mouth of each bag shall first be turned over to a depth of at least 1.5 cm  
and then to a depth of at least 1.6 cm and the three layers of the sacking thus so formed shall be firmly hemmed 
with the s titching thread.  
 
4.1.4 Freedom from defects  
 
The sacking shall be free from tweaving defects  such as : holes, cuts, tears, floats, crushed selvedge’s, spots 
and stains. The bag shall be free from sewing  defects  such as : gap -stitches, loose ends and frayed  ends.  
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1 Sacking  
The sacking shall be woven from natural fibre yarns with uniform construction and shall comply with the  
specific requirements specified in Tables 1, 2 ,3 and 4).   
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  iv 
  
Table 1 — Requirement of a 90 kg sisal bag and its sacking  
 
SN Characteristic  Requirement  Tolerance  Test method  
 
i.  Dimension of a 
bag for 90 kg 
load Outside length, cm  110 +10, -0 KS 1037, Clause 10.1 
Outside width, cm  70 +10, -0 
ii.  Mass per bag, in g  1,200  ±50 KS 1037, Clause  7 
iii.  Breaking strength of seam, newtons , 
min 1200  - KS 1037, Clause  16 
iv.  Ends per 10 cm (min.)  22 +2, -0 KS 1037, Clause 11 
v.  Picks (shots), per 10 cm  44 +2, -0 KS 1037, Clause  11 
vi.  Breaking strength 
of sacking (5cm x 
20 cm strips), in 
newtons , min  warp way  1200  - KS 1037, Clause  12 
weft way  1200  - 
vii.  Mass, in g/m2 of sacking  800 +30, -0 KS ISO 3801  
viii.  Moisture regain , %, max  13 - KS 1037, Clause 1 4 
ix.  Oil content on dry de -oiled material , %, 
max 2 - KS 1037, Clause 15 
 
Table 2 — Requirement of a 90 kg jute (including kenaf) bag and its sacking  
SN Characteristic  Requirement  Tolerance  Test method  
 
i.  Dimension of a 
bag for 90 kg 
load Outside length, cm  110 +10, -0 KS 1037, Clause 10.1 
Outside width,  cm 70 +10, -0 
ii.  Mass per bag, in g  1,000 ±50 KS 1037, Clause 7 
iii.  Breaking strength of seam, newtons, 
min 650 - KS 1037, Clause 16 
iv.  Ends per 10 cm (min.)  28 +2, -0 KS 1037, Clause 1 1 
v.  Picks (shots), per 10 cm  30x2  - KS 1037, Clause 11 
vi.  Breaking strength 
of sacking (5cm x 
20 cm strips), in 
newtons, min  warp way  700 - KS 1037, Clause 12 
weft way  1000 - 
vii.  Mass, in g/m2 of sacking  800 +30, -0 KS ISO 3801  
viii.  Moisture regain, %, max  13 - KS 1037, Clause 14  
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  v 
 ix.  Oil content on dry de -oiled material, %, 
max 2 - KS 1037, Clause 15 
 
Table 3 — Requirements for a 50 kg jute and jute like fibres bag  
SN Characteristic  Requirement  Tolerance  Test method  
 
i.  Area of bag, min.  5040 cm2  KS 1037, Clause 10.1 
ii.  Threads per 10 cm  Ends  76 +4 KS 1037, Clause 11 
Picks  28 -2 
iii.  Breaking strength,  
N, min. warp way  700 - KS 1037, Clause 12 
weft way  700 - 
iv.  Seam Breaking strength , N, min. 650 - KS 1037, Clause 16 
v.  Mass of bag, min., g 550 - KS 1037, Clause 7 
vi.  Moisture regain, %,  max 13 - KS 1037, Clause 14 
vii.  Oil content on dry de -oiled material, %, 
max 2 - KS 1037, Clause 15 
 
Table 4 — Requirements for a 50 kg sisal bag  
SN Characteristic  Requirement  Tolerance  Test method  
 
i.  Area of bag, min.  5040 cm2  KS 1037, Clause 10.1 
ii.  Threads per 10 cm  Ends  22 +2, -0 KS 1037, Clause  11 
Picks  44 +2, -0 
iii.  Breaking strength, 
N, min.  warp way  1200  - KS 1037, Clause 12 
weft way  1200  - 
iv.  Mass of bag, min., g  1000  ±50 KS 1037, Clause 7 
v.  Mass in g/m 2, min. 800 - KS ISO 3801  
vi.  Moisture regain, %, max 13 - KS 1037, Clause 14 
vii.  Oil content on dry de -oiled material, %, 
max 2 - KS 1037, Clause 1 5 
viii.  Breaking strength  of seam , N, min.  1200  - KS 1037, Clause 1 6 
4.2.2 Requirements of packed bale  
  
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  vi 
 4.5.1 Each packed bale shall comply with the requirements given in Table 5.  
 
Table 5 — Requirements of a packed bale  
 
SN Characteristic  Requirement  Tolerance  Test method  
(Ref. to clause of 
appendix)  
i.  Total number of bags per bale  150 - A.1  
ii.  Contract mass of a bale, kg  150 ±2.5 KS 1037, Clause  8 
iii.  Correct mass of a bale, kg  Not less than 
the 
contract mass  - KS 1037, Clause  9 
 
 
 
5 Labelling  
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on each bale,  
 
a) name of the manufacturer;  
b) the inscription ‘Woven bags for cereals and pulses’;  
c) number of bags;  
d) contract mass, in kg;  
e) bale number;  
f) country of manufacture  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© KEBS 2023 – All rights reserved  vii 
 Annex A  
(normative)  
Inspection of a bale  
 
A.1 Record all the particulars as stated on the bale.  
 
A.2 Remove all packing materials from the bale . Count and record the number of all bags in the bale.  
Denote this by N. 
 
 
.