Watch | India’s 150-year-old jute industry

India is the world’s largest producer of jute, adopted by Bangladesh. Jute is primarily grown in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh.

The jute industry in India is 150 years outdated. There are about 70 jute mills within the nation, of which about 60 are in West Bengal alongside each the banks of river Hooghly.

Jute manufacturing is a labour intensive industry. It employs about two lakh employees within the West Bengal alone and 4 lakh employees throughout the nation.

Jute is the one crop the place earnings start to trickle in manner earlier than the ultimate harvest. The seeds are planted between April and May and harvested between July and August.

The leaves might be bought in vegetable markets for practically two months of the four-month jute crop cycle. The tall, hardy grass shoots as much as 2.5 metres and every a part of it has a number of makes use of.

The outer layer of the stem produces the fibre that goes into making jute merchandise. But the leaves might be cooked, the inside woody stems can be utilized to fabricate paper and the roots, that are left within the floor after harvest, enhance the yield of subsequent crops.

Compared to rice, jute requires little or no water and fertiliser. It is essentially pest-resistant, and its speedy development spurt ensures that weeds don’t stand an opportunity.

To high all of it, the financial returns on jute are twice that of paddy. An acre of land produces roughly 9 quintals of fibre.

Not solely does this surprise crop deliver dwelling increased returns in comparison with most money and meals crops, however it’s also an enormous winner on the sustainability entrance.

Also learn: How cotton and jute baggage are choosing up

Jute is the second most plentiful pure fibre on this planet. It has excessive tensile power, acoustic and thermal insulation, breathability, low extensibility, ease of mixing with each artificial and pure fibres, and antistatic properties.

Jute can be utilized: for insulation (changing glass wool), geotextiles, activated carbon powder, wall coverings, flooring, clothes, rugs, ropes, gunny baggage, handicrafts, curtains, carpet backings, paper, sandals, carry baggage, and furnishings.

A ‘Golden Fibre Revolution’ has lengthy been known as for by numerous committees, however the jute industry is in dire want of primary reforms.

Two main issues of the industry are out of date processing know-how, and the shortage of product diversification.

The availability of high quality uncooked jute and shrinking acreage on the one-hand and the failure of most jute mills to modernise has left the sector depending on government-support like packaging reservations. Only a bit of the industry has diversified into non-packaging segments.

The Jute Packaging Materials (Compulsory Use in Packing Commodities) Act was enacted in 1987 to guard the jute sector from the plastic packaging phase.

In October 2020, the federal government determined that 100% meals grains and 20% sugar will probably be mandatorily packaged in jute baggage.