of 6 alternatively the chopping step may be carried out on coir having a higher moisture content if chopping is carried out on wet coir the resulting coir chunks may be dried prior to further processing to release pith from coir chunks coir chunks are abraded in a mill in certain embodiments wet or dry coir chunks are abraded in a contra selector mill as seen in fig1 the contra selector mill includes a rotating screen basket 81 coir chunks 82 are deposited into the basket from inlet 83 an impellor 84 having blades 85 rotates simultaneously with rotation of the basket 81 the impellor 84 and the screen basket 81 may rotate in the same direction or the impellor 84 and the screen basket 81 may rotate in opposite directions preferably the impellor 84 and the screen basket 81 rotate in opposite directions to produce fibers as the impellor 84 and the screen basket 81 rotate coir chunks are ground or abraded between the blades 85 and grinding elements on the inner surface of the basket 81 as the coir chunks are ground centrifugal forces cause the ground particles to pass through openings in the screen basket 81 the fiber size may be controlled by adjusting the rotation speed of the impellor 84 and the screen basket 81 and or the size of the openings in the screen basket 81 the ground particles comprise coir fibers and coconut pith and fall into a trough or hopper where they are collected after passing out of the screen basket according to various embodiments wet or dry coir chunks are abraded in a contra selector mill abrasion of the coir fiber bundles in the mill opens the pith pockets in certain embodiments coir.