POTENTIAL TO INCREASE JUTE PRODUCTION

Jute (Crochorus spp.) is a herbaceous plant which is cultivated for jute fiber, with edible young shoot. It
is important fiber crop next to cotton. Jute is popularly known as Golden fiber. Jute is produced from its
secondary phloem.Jute fibers are commonly used in making ropes, bags, carpets, curtains, etc. Fine
quality fibers are used for making paper boards. Oil is extracted from seeds used in manufacturing sopa
paints, etc. The stalks can be used as fuel.Jute is a cash crop in eastern Teraibelt of Nepal and mainly
concentrated in Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Siraha, Saptari and Udaypur districts. But jute growing districts
are eight now (Ilam & kailali).

Three decades ago Nepal used to be major jute exporter to European countries and Golden fiber was
one of the major source of foreign exchange. Presently jute cultivation has shrunk to 11,000 hectares
only which was cultivated in 56,000 hectares of land. Nepal used to produce 150,000 tonns of jute
annually. 80 percent of the raw jute requirement is imported from India and Bangladesh. Whereas only
20 percent requirement is fulfilled by the domestic jute production, which is a heavy loss in economic
sector. Presently, the jute industry has been dropped from the government priority list even though
demand for more ecological packaging, globally has strengthen the export potential.
 Fig: Jute products

Jute is a biodegradable natural fiber, which is why United Nations wishes to increase the jute fiber
instead of synthetically made Plastic fibers. The jute sector can be revived if the government
reintroduces subsidies on seed, fertilizer, electricity, etc. There are 85 varieties of jute but normal
investment on sector has forced the Center to research and produce 6 species only. Nepal could attain
self sufficiency in jute production if the government accorded priority to the sector. Also the export of
jute can be increased significantly if the government introduces an export subsidy and makes effort to
waive the anti-dumping duty imposed by the southern neighbour.

Jute is a traditional crop in Nepal and held a great portion of their economic value, this could happen
again if the production of jute increased. Most of the jute farmers in Nepal now are the older
generation and younger families don't want to start farming jute because it is very labour intensive and
requires more cost of production. However, if time and effort is invested into jute production; there is
huge potential for the jute industry to have a break through and have major benefits. Jute sector should
be mechanized and scientific cultivation should be promoted. Training to the farmers regarding selecting
variety, systematic row cultivation, improved cultivation, extension services regarding jute cultivation,
etc.
Fig: Jute fiber extracting machine Fig: raw jute

For good quality fiber, proper retting in a good quality water in slow moving condition is required. Which
is not available in all the jute growing places. Traditional method of retting resluts in dull dusty and low
quality of fiber which fetches low price. In additional it is labour intensive and costly. Development in
mechanization technology like introduction of jute fiber extracting machine can overcome this problem.
This machine impressively reduces labour requirements, saves time, water and ultimately cost of
production for the farmers. This improved process results on good quality of fiber which the variety is
capable of as per its genetic makeup. Increase in production by 15% can be achieved. As a result farmer
can fetch better price on account of improved quality and higher production.