10/9/2016

AnOverviewoftheJuteIndustryofIndiaTextileLearner

ANOVERVIEWOFTHEJUTEINDUSTRYOFINDIA

R.S.BALAKUMAR
AssociateProfessor(SFDA)
HindustanUniversity,Chennai
Cell:+919283182955
Email:rsbalakumar1953@gmail.com

Introduction:
Jute is the second important fibre crop of India, next to cotton crop. Nowadays in the world market Jute is in great
demandbecauseofthecheapness,softness,strength,length,lustreanduniformityofitsfibre.

Utility
Jute is used for producing a huge variety of utility products like gunny bags, hessian, ropes, strings, carpets, rugs and
clothes, tarpaulins, upholstery and decoration pieces. In recent time jute fibre is also used to manufacturing mens
shirting materials and womens sarees, salwarkhameez material, after making softness process of the fibre. Linen
fabricsarenowadaysintroducedinthetextilemarketofIndia

JuteindustryofIndia

ConditionsofGrowth:
Juteisnormallythecropofhotandhumidclimate.Itneedsthehightemperaturevaryingfrom24Cto35Candheavy
rainfall of 120 to 150 cm with 80 to 90 per cent relative humidity during the period of its growth Small amount of pre
monsoonrainfallvaryingfrom25cmto55cmisverymuchuseful.Ithelpsinthepropergrowthofthejuteplantuptothe
reachoftheappropriatemonsoon.Incessantanduntimelyrainfallsaswellasprolongeddroughtsaredetrimentaltothis
crop.Rainfallbetween2.5to7.5cminamonthisrequired,Duringthesowingperiodisconsideredtobemuchenough.
Inadditiontothis,Occasionalshowersvaryingfrom2to3cmatintervalsofaweekstimeduringthegrowingperiodare
consideredtobeimportant.Abundantamountofwaterisrequirednotonlyforgrowingthejutecropbutalsoforhandling
thefibreafterthecropisharvested.
Lightsandyorclayeymudsareconsideredtobegoodsuitedsoilsforjute.Sincejuterapidlydrainsthefertilityofsoil,it
iscompulsorythatthesoilisrefilledyearlybythesiltladenfloodwateroftherivers.Hugesupplyofinexpensivelabour
isalsonecessaryforincreasingandprocessingthejutefibre.

TechniqueofCultivatingandTreatingofJute:
JuteiscommonlysowninFebruaryonlowlandsandinMarchMayonuplands.Thecroptakes810monthstomature
butdifferentvarietiestakethealteredtimetomature.TheharvestingperiodusuallystartsinJulyandlaststillthemonth
ofOctober.
Theplantsarecuttothegroundandtiedintobundles.Sheavesofjutestocksarethenengrossedinfloodwaterorponds
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or stagnant water for about 2 to 3 weeks for retting. High temperature of water accelerates the process of retting. After
rettingiscomplete,thebarkispeeledfromtheplantandfibreisremoved.
Afterthis,stripping,rinsing,washingandcleaningisdoneandthefibreisdriedinthesunandpressedintobales.Allthis
process is to be done by human hand.availability of plenty of labour at lowcost rates is very much important.
Coincidentally,thisworkforceisreadilyavailablebecausejuteiscultivatedinareasofhighpopulationdensity.

Production:
Indiaagonizedagreatobstructionintheproductionofjuteasaresultofpartitionofthecountryin1947becauseabout
75percentofthejuteproducingareaswenttoBangladesh(EastPakistanatthattime)Providentially,mostofthejute
mills remained in India. Energetic efforts were made to growth of the production and area of jute, instantaneously after
partitiontonourishourravenousjutemillsinthewakeofshortsupplyofrawjute.
Afterthisintervaltheareaunderjutecultivationvariedbetween0.8millionhectaresand0.9millionhectares.Theoverall
increase in jute production, in spite of jute zone remaining more or less the same, is principally due to the increase in
yields.
The yield of jute almost doubled from 1,183 kg/hectare in 1960 61 to 2,183 kg/hectare in 200304. This is a great
achievementkeepinginviewthegeographicallimitationsunderwhichjutecultivationcanbecarriedon.
Besides 0.5 million people are involved in raw jute and finished goods trading and ancillary activities. Currently India
accountsforabout66percentofworldjuteproductionascomparedtoonly25percentproducedbyBangladesh.
R&Dworkiscarriedbythefarmingexpertsduringthelastfewyearshasnotonlyresultedinincreasingyieldofthefibre
butalsoinimprovementofthefibrequalityandshorteningofcultivationperiod.

Distribution:
1.WestBengal:
West Bengal is the acknowledged ruler of jute production in India accounting for over fourfifths of the production and
nearly threefourths of the area under jute. Here hot and humid climate and alluvial, loamy soil attached with cheap
abundantlabourprovidetheparexcellenceconditionsforthegrowthofjute.
Nevertheless,majorpartoftheproductioncomesfromNadia,Murshidabad,24Parganas,Coochbehar,Jalpaiguri,Hugli,
West Dinajpur, Bardhaman, Maldah and Medinipur districts. The entire jute production is consumed in the jute mills
locatedintheHuglibasin.
2.Bihar:
Bihar is the second largest producer but lagging far behind West Bengal in the production of jute accounting only for
about 9.72 per cent of the production and over 17 per cent of the area of the country under jute. Purnea is the largest
producing district accounting for 60 per cent of Bihar s production. Katihar, Saharsa and Darbhanga are the other
producingdistricts.
3.Assam:
With about 6.68 per cent of the production and 7.88 per cent of the area of the country, Assam is the third largest jute
producingstateofIndia.ThemainconcentrationisintheBrahmaputraandSurmavalleys.Goalpara,Kamrup,Nowgong,
DarrangandSibsagararethemainproducingdistricts.
Others:
Amongtheotherproducers,isOrissa,whereCuttack,PuriandBolangirarethemainproducers.InUttarPradesh,areas
along the Himalayan foothills including Kheri, Bahraich and Sitapur districts are the main producers. Some jute is also
producedinMaharashtra,Kerala,MadhyaPradesh,Tripura,MeghalayaandAndhraPradesh.
Trade:
Indiasproductionofjutealwaysfallsshortofherrequirementsanditisimportedtofeedourjutemills.Bangladeshisthe
chiefsupplierofjutetoIndia.ThereareyeartoyearoscillationsinthequantityandvalueofjuteimportedbyIndia.
Being a natural fibre, jute is biodegradable and as such environment friendly. The principal products can be reused
and,asaresult,manyhaveasecondaryvalueforotherusers.Despitesuchpositivefeatures,theworldmarketforjute
hasremaineddepressed.Themajorcauseofsuchasituationisthegrowthofalternateslikeplastic.

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