Industry Overview Jute Overview

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse and strong threads. It is produced from plants

in the genus Corchorus, which was once classified with the family Tiliaceae, more recently with Malvaceae, and has

now been reclassified as belonging to the family Sparrmanniaceae.

Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibres and is the second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of

uses of vegetable fibres.

Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose (major component of plant fibre) and lignin (major

components of wood fibre). It is thus a ligno-cellulosic fibre, which is partially a textile fibre and partially wood. It falls

into the bast fibre category (fibre collected from bast or skin of the plant) along with kenaf, industrial hemp, flax

(linen), ramie, etc.

The industrial term for jute fibre is raw jute. The fibres are off-white to brown, and 1–4 metres (3–12 feet) long.

CultivationJute needs a plain alluvial soil and standing water. The suitable climate for growing jute (warm and wet) is offered by

the monsoon climate, during the monsoon season. Temperatures from 20˚C to 40˚C and relative humidity of 70%–

80% are favourable for successful cultivation. Jute requires 5–8 cm of rainfall weekly, and more during the sowing

period.

White jute (Corchorus capsularis)Historical documents (including Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal in 1590) state that the poor villagers of India used to wear

clothes made of jute. The weavers, who used to spin cotton yarns, used simple handlooms and hand spinning

wheels.

History also states that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white jute from ancient times for

household and other uses.

Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius)Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius) is a variety thought to be native to India, and is the world's top producer. It is grown

for both fibre and culinary purposes. It is used as a herb in Middle Eastern and African countries, where the leaves

are used as an ingredient in a mucilaginous potherb called "molokhiya”.

It is very popular in some Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as a soup-based dish, sometimes with

meat over rice or lentils. The Book of Job, in the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible mentions this vegetable

potherb as "Jew's mallow". It is rich in protein, vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, and iron.

On the other hand, it is used mainly for its fibre in India, in other countries in Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific.

Tossa jute fibre is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute. This variety astonishingly shows good sustainability in

the climate of the Ganges Delta.

Along with white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil of Bengal where it is known as paat from the very

beginning of the 19th century. Now, the Bengal region (West Bengal in India, and Bangladesh) is the largest global

producer of the tossa jute variety.

History For centuries, jute has been an integral part of the culture of Bengal, in the entire southwest of Bangladesh and

some portions of West Bengal. During the British Raj in the 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the raw jute fibre

of Bengal was carried off to the United Kingdom, where it was then processed in mills concentrated in Dundee.

Initially, due to its texture, it could only be processed by hand until it was discovered in that city that by treating it with

whale oil, it could be treated by machine. The industry boomed ("jute weaver" was a recognised trade occupation in

the 1901 UK census), but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970, due to the appearance of synthetic fibres.

Margaret Donnelly, a jute mill landowner in Dundee in the 1800s, set up the first jute mills in Bengal. In the 1950s and

1960s, when nylon and polythene were rarely used, one of the primary sources of foreign exchange earnings for the

erstwhile United Pakistan, was the export of jute products, based on jute grown in the East Bengal, now Bangladesh.

Jute has been called the "Golden Fibre of Bangladesh." However, as the use of polythene and other synthetic

materials as a substitute for jute increasingly captured the market, the jute industry in general experienced a decline.

During some years in the 1980s, farmers in Bangladesh burnt their jute crops when they did not get profitable price.

Many jute exporters diversified away from jute to other commodities. Jute-related organizations and government

bodies were also forced to close, change or downsize.

The long decline in demand forced Adamjee Jute Mills, the largest jute mills in the world to close in Bangladesh. The

government nationalized Latif Bawany Jute Mills, the second largest mill in Bangladesh. It was formerly owned by the

businessperson, Yahya Bawany.

Farmers in Bangladesh have not completely ceased growing jute, however, mainly due to its demand in the internal

market. Between 2004–2010, the jute market recovered and the price of raw jute increased more than 500%[citation

needed].

Jute has entered many diverse sectors of industry, where natural fibres are gradually becoming better substitutes.

Among these industries are paper, celluloid products (films), non-woven textiles, composites, (pseudo-wood), and

geotextiles.

In 2006, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 2009 to be the International Year of Natural Fibres,

so as to raise the profile of jute and other natural fibres.

ProductionJute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides, in contrast to cotton's acute requirements. Production

is concentrated in some parts of India and in Bangladesh.

The jute fibre comes from the stem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibres are at first extracted by retting.

The retting process consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water.

There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon. After the retting process, stripping begins; women and children

usually do this job. In the stripping process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the workers dig in and grab the

fibres from within the jute stem.

India, Pakistan, and China are the large buyers of local jute while the United Kingdom, Spain, Côte d'Ivoire, Germany

and Brazil also import raw jute from Bangladesh.

GenomeOn 16 June 2010, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that Bangladesh successfully completed the draft genome

of jute.

A consortium of researchers from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) and private

software firm DataSoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd. in collaboration with Centre for Chemical Biology, University of

Science Malaysia and University of Hawaii were involved in this project.

UsesJute is the second most important vegetable fibre next to cotton. Jute is used chiefly to make cloth for wrapping bales

of raw cotton, and to make sacks and coarse cloth. The fibres are also woven into curtains, chair coverings, carpets,

area rugs, hessian cloth, and backing for linoleum.

While jute is being replaced by synthetic materials in many of these uses, some uses take advantage of jute's

biodegradable nature, where synthetics would be unsuitable. Examples of such uses include containers for planting

young trees, which can be planted directly with the container without disturbing the roots, and land restoration where

jute cloth prevents erosion occurring while natural vegetation becomes established.

The fibres are used alone or blended with other types of fibre to make twine and rope. Jute rope has long been

popular in Japan for use in bondage [citation needed]. Jute butts, the coarse ends of the plants, are used to make

inexpensive cloth.

Conversely, very fine threads of jute can be separated out and made into imitation silk. As jute fibres are also being

used to make pulp and paper, and with increasing concern over forest destruction for the wood pulp used to make

most paper, the importance of jute for this purpose may increase.

Jute has a long history of use in the sackings, carpets, wrapping fabrics (cotton bale), and construction fabric

manufacturing industry.

Traditionally jute was used in traditional textile machineries as textile fibres having cellulose (vegetable fibre content)

and lignin (wood fibre content).

However, the major breakthrough came when the automobile, pulp and paper, and the furniture and bedding

industries started to use jute and its allied fibres with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacture

nonwovens, technical textiles, and composites.

Therefore, jute has changed its textile fibre outlook and steadily heading towards its newer identity, i.e., wood fibre.

As a textile fibre, jute has reached its peak from where there is no hope of progress, but as a wood fibre jute has

many promising features.

Jute is used in the manufacture of a number of fabrics such as Hessian cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet-backing cloth

(CBC), and canvas. Hessian, lighter than sacking, is used for bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home

furnishings. Sacking, a fabric made of heavy jute fibres, has its use in the name.

CBC made of jute comes in two types. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface, while secondary CBC is bonded onto

the primary backing for an overlay. Jute packaging is used as an eco-friendly substitute.

Diversified jute products are becoming more and more valuable to the consumer today. Among these are espadrilles,

soft sweaters and cardigans, floor coverings, home textiles, high performance technical textiles, Geotextiles,

composites, and more.

Jute floor coverings consist of woven, tufted, and piled carpets. Jute Mats and mattings with 5/6 metres width and of

continuous length are easily being woven in Southern parts of India, in solid and fancy shades, and in different

weaves like, Boucle, Panama, Herringbone, etc. Jute Mats & Rugs are made both through Powerloom & Handloom,

in large volume from Kerala, India.

The traditional Satranji mat is becoming very popular in home décor. Jute non-wovens and composites can be used

for underlay, linoleum substrate, and more.

Jute has many advantages as a home textile, either replacing cotton or blending with it. It is a strong, durable, colour

and light-fast fibre. Its UV protection, sound and heat insulation, low thermal conduction and anti-static properties

make it a wise choice in home décor.

In addition, fabrics made of jute fibres are carbon-dioxide neutral and naturally decomposable. These properties can

also be used in high performance technical textiles.

Moreover, jute can be grown in 4-6 months with a huge amount of cellulose being produced from the jute hurd (inner

woody core or parenchyma of the jute stem) that can meet most of the wood needs of the world. Jute is the major

crop among others that is able to protect deforestation by industrialisation.

Thus, jute is the most environment-friendly fibre starting from the seed to expired fibre, as the expired fibres can be

recycled more than once.

Jute is also used to make ghillie suits, which are used as camouflage and resemble grasses or brush.

Another diversified jute product is Geotextiles, which made this agricultural commodity more popular in the

agricultural sector. It is a lightly woven fabric made from natural fibres, which is used for soil erosion control, seed

protection, weed control, and many other agricultural and landscaping uses.

The Geotextiles can be used more than a year and the bio-degradable jute Geotextile left to rot on the ground keeps

the ground cool and is able to make the land more fertile. Methods such as this could be used to transfer the fertility

of the Ganges Delta to the deserts of Sahara or Australia [citation needed].

Other UsesDiversified byproducts from jute can be used in cosmetics, medicine, paints, and other products.

Features Jute fibre is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly. Jute has low pesticide and fertilizer needs. It is a natural fibre with golden and silky shine and hence called The Golden Fibre. It is the cheapest vegetable fibre procured from the bast or skin of the plant's stem. It is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption,

production, and availability. It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breathability of fabrics. Therefore, jute is

very suitable in agricultural commodity bulk packaging. It helps to make best quality industrial yarn, fabric, net, and sacks. It is one of the most versatile natural

fibres, that has been used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile, construction, and agricultural sectors.  Bulking of yarn, results in a reduced breaking tenacity and an increased breaking extensibility when

blended as a ternary blend. The best source of jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plain in the Ganges Delta, most of which is occupied

by Bangladesh. Advantages of jute include good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having low thermal

conductivity and moderate moisture regain.  Other advantages of jute include acoustic insulating properties and manufacture with no skin irritations. Jute has the ability to be blended with other fibers, both synthetic and natural, and accepts cellulosic dye

classes such as natural, basic, vat, sulfur, reactive, and pigment dyes.  As the demand for natural comfort fibres increases, the demand for jute and other natural fibres that can be

blended with cotton will increase.  To meet this demand, some manufactures in the natural fibre industry plan to modernize processing with

the Rieter's Elitex system. As a result, jute/cotton yarns will produce fabrics with a reduced cost of wet processing treatments.

 Jute can also be blended with wool. By treating jute with caustic soda, crimp, softness, pliability, and appearance is improved, aiding in its ability to be spun with wool. Liquid ammonia has a similar effect on jute, as well as the added characteristic of improving flame resistance when treated with flame-proofing agents.

Some noted disadvantages include poor drap-ability and crease resistance, brittleness, fibre shedding, and yellowing in sunlight. However, preparation of fabrics with castor oil lubricants result in less yellowing and less fabric weight loss, as well as increased dyeing brilliance.

 Jute has a decreased strength when wet, and becomes subject to microbial attack in humid climates. Jute can be processed with an enzyme in order to reduce some of its brittleness and stiffness.

Once treated with an enzyme, jute shows an affinity to readily accept natural dyes, which can be made from marigold flower extract. In one attempt to dye jute fabric with this extract, bleached fabric was made mordant with ferrous sulphate, increasing the fabric's dye uptake value.

 Jute also responds well to reactive dyeing. This process is used for bright and fast coloured value-added diversified products made from jute.,

Bangladesh may lose

market in diversified jute

products

India investing in new mills, research and

development

Sajjadur Rahman

Bangladesh is missing out on the opportunity to

earn foreign currency from the export of

diversified jute products, industry players said.

India, on the other hand, is taking advantage of

this opportunity by investing in new mills and

research and development in line with global

demand, they added.

“A ban on the use of plastic bags in different

countries — from the US to Europe, Africa, Asia

and Australia — has opened new opportunities

to export diversified jute products,” said

Rashedul Karim Munna, general secretary of

Bangladesh Jute Diversified Products

Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

The global demand for shopping bags is

estimated to be 500 billion pieces, worth around

$500 billion a year, according to International

Jute Study Group.

The US, Europe and China would be the biggest

markets for shopping bags, once the ban on the

use of plastic bags would fully come into force in

a few years.

Local manufacturers and exporters fear they

would lose the market to India, as

entrepreneurs in the neighbouring country have

built factories that are able to produce quality

yarn, fabric and diversified products.

India exported more than 70 million jute

shopping bags in 2012-13, against around 1

million by Bangladesh. Entrepreneurs in India

received grants from the government to set up

advanced mills to produce diversified jute

products, they said.

Bangladesh’s manufacturers and exporters said

all the governments in the country had paid

little attention to develop this sector.

“The cost of producing quality yarn is 40

percent higher in Bangladesh than India because

of technological disadvantages,” Munna said.

India has set up composite jute mills with

modern machinery and technologies to make

fabric, dyeing or lamination under one roof, he

said. Bangladesh has nearly 250 jute mills, but

none with dyeing and lamination facilities,

which are essential to producing diversified

products.

Historically, Bangladesh and a part of India are

the main producers of jute accounting for more

than 96 percent of the total jute production

globally. In 2011, global jute production was

2.86 million tonnes, of which Bangladesh’s share

was 1.2 million tonnes.

Once Bangladesh was known as the country of

‘golden fibre’ because of the quality of jute it

produced. Jute and jute goods accounted for 90

percent of the country’s total exports in 1972-73.

Now, the contribution of this sector to

Bangladesh’s export earnings has dropped to

less than 5 percent, even though it has more

than 95 percent local value addition.

Bangladesh exported raw jute and jute goods

worth $1.03 billion in fiscal 2012-13 — jute sacks

and bags accounted for $237 million and jute

yarn and twine over $500 million — according to

data from Export Promotion Bureau. In July-

October this year, data shows a negative trend

in the export of jute sacks and bags — $42.61

million against the target of nearly $93 million

for the period.

“India is enjoying the cream of jute

diversification. It has quality mills, professionals

and designers to produce diversified products,”

said Mahmudul Haque, deputy managing

director of Janata Jute Mills, one of the two

biggest private mills. The largest one is Akij Jute

Mills.

“Investing in dyeing and lamination is yet to be

feasible in Bangladesh as the market is not so

big. An absence of designers is a major concern

here too,” Haque said.

The good news is that Bangladesh Jute Mills

Corporation (BJMC) is set to convert a couple of

its mills to produce raw materials to make

diversified products instead of traditional ones.

“We are converting Karnaphuli Jute Mills and

hope to go for commercial production next

month. The world is demanding diversified

products and we have to get out of making

traditional things,” said Maj Gen Humayun

Khaled, chairman of BJMC.

Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or

pesticides. The production is concentrated in India and

Bangladesh. The jute fibre comes from the stem and

ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibres are first

extracted by retting. The retting process consists of

bundling jute stems together and immersing them in low,

running water. There are two types of retting: stem and

ribbon. After the retting process, stripping begins.

Women and children usually do this job. In the stripping

process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the

workers dig in and grab the fibres from within the jute

stem. India, Pakistan, China are the large buyers of local

jute while Britain, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and

Brazil also import raw jute from Bangladesh. India is the

world's largest jute growing country.

Jute is the second most important vegetable fibre after

cotton; not only for cultivation, but also for various uses.

Jute is used chiefly to make cloth for wrapping bales of

raw cotton, and to make sacks and coarse cloth. The

fibres are also woven into curtains, chair coverings,

carpets, area rugs, hessian cloth, and backing for

linoleum. Traditionally jute was used in traditional

textile machineries as textile fibres having cellulose

(vegetable fibre content) and lignin (wood fibre content).

But, the major breakthrough came when the automobile,

pulp and paper, and the furniture and bedding

industries started to use jute and its allied fibres with

their non-woven and composite technology to

manufacture nonwovens, technical textiles, and

composites.

Therefore, jute has changed its textile fibre outlook and

steadily heading towards its newer identity, Le. wood

fibre. As a textile fibre, jute has reached its peak from

where there is no hope of progress, but as a wood fibre

jute has many promising features.

Jute can be used to create a number of fabrics such as

Hessian cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC),

and canvas. Hessian, lighter than sacking, is used for

bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home

furnishings. Sacking, a fabric made of heavy jute fibres,

has its use in the name. CBC made of jute comes in two

types. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface, while

secondary CBC is bonded onto the primary backing for

an overlay. Jute packaging is used as an eco-friendly

substitute.

Diversified jute products are becoming more and more

valuable to the consumer today. Among these are

espadrilles, floor coverings, home textiles, high

performance technical textiles, Geotextiles, composites,

and more. Jute bags are used for making fashion bags &

promotional bags. The ecofriendly nature of jute make it

ideal for corporate gifting.

Jute floor coverings consist of woven and tufted and piled

carpets. Jute Mats and mattings with 5 / 6 mts width and

of continuous length are easilly being woven in Southern

parts of India, in solid and fancy shades, and in different

weaves like, Boucle, Panama, Herringbone, etc. Jute Mats

& Rugs are made both through Powerloom & Handloom,

in large volume from Kerala, India. The traditional

Satranji mat is becoming very popular in home decor.

Jute non-wovens and composites can be used for

underlay, linoleum substrate, and more. Jute has many

advantages as a home textile, either replacing cotton or

blending with it. It is a strong, durable, color and light-

fast fibre. Its UV protection, sound and heat insulation,

low thermal conduction and anti-static properties make

it a wise choice in home decor. Also, fabrics made of jute

fibres are carbon-dioxide neutral and naturally

decomposable. These properties are also why jute can be

used in high performance technical textiles.

Jute, a natural fibre used universally, is the bark of a slender

shrub of tropical and subtropical origin. It belongs to the

family of Tiliaceae. Fibres of two species of this family viz

Corchorus Capsularies and Cochorus Olitorius are used to

produce jute goods.

These two fibres yielding agricultural plants need alluvial land

and heavy rainfall alternate with high temperature and windy

air to grow well to give lustrous and strong fiber. Bangladesh

is unique in providing for centuries all the physico-climatical

elements for rich and luxuriant growth and high yield of jute

crop because of its geographical location as an alluvial plate

crisscrossed by innumerable rivers and tributaries

sandwiched between the Himalayas in the North and East and

the Bay of Bengal in the South.

Blessed with this specialized habitat and climatic condition,

every year about half a million hectares of land is cultivated

to yield about 1.0 million tons of jute fibres of different grades

to meet the local industrial and domestic needs as well as for

export to other countries for their consumption as industrial

raw materials.

The cultivation of jute and its use as utility products in the life

of peoples of this region dates back to some centuries. The

great break-through made in textile technology at the dawn of

industrial revolution helped jute come out as an amazing

fabric from its age-old usages as cordage and rope.

Since then innumerable additions and modifications took

place in its form and structure to groom it into materials

those in times became indispensable for human life all over

the world for their many specified and unspecified uses.

Jute is being ideally used for manufacturing

Jute can transform our future

Md. Shah Amran

Ph.D. Fellow

Department of Pharmacology

Yamanashi medical University

Japan

e-mail: amran@res.yamanashi-med.ac.jp

A few days before I was walking through a "hundred yen

shop" to buy some small but essential household materials.

As similar to American "One dollar shop", in Japan there are

"hundred yen" shops almost in every supermarket that sales

goods at hundred yen only. In Japanese these are called

"hyaku yen mise". In a corner I noticed some jute bags and I

rushed to that corner. These were nice woven bags. First I

thought these have been imported from Bangladesh and I

decided to buy some to offer my Japanese friends as gift. But

in the bottom it was written 'made in India'. According to the

known statistics Bangladesh is the largest manufacturer of

jute but the Japanese supermarkets are filled with the jute

goods of India. So I abandoned the desire to buy these bags.

Next day after comeback to my laboratory I searched for jute

and jute goods. There are thousands of websites from both

India and Bangladesh. I selected some from both Bangladesh

and India and read these meticulously. I was astonished to

see the enormous usage of jute and jute goods. But India is

far ahead of us in respect multiple use, plans and future

projects. I also browsed the website of "Bangladesh Jute

Research Institutes".

It is also filled with bright prospect of jute but reality is

different. We do not have much resources but surely there are

some precious and prospective assets. Jute is among one of

them. It is such a plant that each and every part of jute is

usable. Young and tender leaves, for example can be eaten as

vegetable. Even in Japan young and tender jute plants are

available in the supermarkets as vegetable. I myself bought

these small whole plant vegetable items many times. The jute

fiber is used to make rope, sacks, yarn, fabrics and carpets.

The long stick (known as pat kathi or shola) is used as fuel,

and also fencing and thatching of the houses in the rural

Bangladesh. The hairy part in the bottom of rotten jute tree,

when dried, used also as a good fuel. When these are cleaned

enough and processed, can be used as alternative of cotton

(Tula) to fill the pillow. The root of tree remained during

cutting may be collected in summer season and used as good

fuel.

Some of the usage of jute both in Bangladesh are:

Common Usage:

1. Handicrafts-bamboo basket with braided jute interwoven,

jute and jute cotton applique, photo frame, ornament box (new

item may be: Tissue box)

2. Bags-Beach bags, Sling bags, transparent braided bag

used for university, college and school bags by students.

3. Footware-Ladies clogs, sandal (choti) and jute-leather

sandal

4. Fabrics- Jute and cotton at a ratio of 70:30 used for home

decoration

5. Accessories-Apron for use as kitchen wear, cushion for

home furnishing

6. Composite-jute-plastic pellet for multi-purpose , composite

board for interior design for false ceiling, yarn composite

(plate , glass, paposh) multipurpose use.

Special use:

1. Geo-Jute:

Jute for the Future Versatility usage of jute is coming to light

as the world looks for natural options to save the

environment. Jute is now offering better and ideal solutions

for conserving the soil and environment and also in

applications like civil engineering. The distinguishing features

that make jute more and more eco-friendly are: high moisture

absorption capacity, flexibility and drainage properties.

GeoJute finds application in: erosion control, separation,

filtration and drainage in civil engineering works, agriculture

uses. Advantages that Geojute offer are: abundant availability,

superior drapability, greater moisture retention capacity, lower

costs compared to the synthetic geotextiles, ease of

installation and bio-degradable properties.

The prospect for jeo-jute is enormous. Jeo-jute can be a

good source of earning of the foreign currency by exporting to

the foreign countries like Japan and European countries if

appropriate measures are taken in governmental level.

After World war II Japan was a devastated economy. On the

other hand they have no natural resources to mention and the

goods now they export all over the world, like car, electronics,

films etc none of then were invented in Japan. But in one

point they acquired excellency is the technology to produce

these materials in a comparatively less price but better

quality. If we can produce jute goods in a comperatively less

price but better quality, then we can acquire world market of

jute and jute goods

2. Food grade bags

Currently jute is used as sacks for food products that are not

consumed as such. But the jute bags and clothes, if

processed under proper technology can be used as the best

and safest packaging materials for food products in general,

especially for coffee, cocoa beans and edible nuts that are

consumed directly.

3. Pharmaceutical aid

According to the demand in the BJRI website, they established

the chemical process for the production of cellulose

derivarivessuch as Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC),

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), oxalic acid, cellulose acetate,

cellulose nitrates and activated charcoal from jute and jute

wastes. The process for the production of MCC has been

leased out to BEXIMCO. An MOU has been signed between

BJRI and Kamrul Engineering and trading for commercial

production of CMC. It is well known that both MCC and CMC

are widely used pharmaceutical aid or auxiliary substance to

manufacture medicines. There are about 210 pharmaceutical

industries in the country. Cellulose acetate is used as a tablet

coating material. CMC is also widely used in cosmetic,

toiletries and chemical industries. Therefore, if these cellulose

derivatives can be prepared in a "cost-effective" way then it

will save crores of currency now used to import these

materials. Bravo to BJRI and BEXIMCO for their endeavor.

4. Jute-plastic combination products

Also according to the demand in the BJRI website, they

established the chemical process for the production of

blankets from jute-acrylic blend developed simultaneously

BJMC and BJRI. To commercialize this process a MOU has

been signed between BJRI and Grameen Uddog of Professor

Dr. Mohammad Yunus.

Role of the NGOs:

Non governmental developing agencies can take various

projects based on jute. They can make, for example, good

quality jute bags for school, college and university students'

use, foot wares, photo frame, jewelry box, tissue box frame.

One of the NGOs started working with jute in 1973. It is

CORR-The jute works, Bangladesh. It began working with jute

in 1973 with special mission to rehabilitate war-affected poor

rural women of Bangladesh. Now, in Bangladesh the NGOs

are increasingly involving in commercial activities. They can

put a eye on jute and jute products as their commercial

activity. I already mentioned about Grameen Uddog. In this

respect one thing must be ensured and that is: Availability of

jute yarn & fabrics and other raw jute goods at mill gate price

in desired quantity at different locations of the country.

Paper from Jute:

Recently I saw a documentary in the NHK (Japanese national

Broadcasting authority) on Bangladesh and I also have a

Video tape of that program. In that documentary they showed

how Bangladeshi women manually manufacture paper from

water hyacinth using locally developed technology. I request

the Scientist of BJRI to look at this point. If paper can be

manufactured from jute by such locally developed technology,

it will be great contribution to the nations. And NGOs can,

hopefully, be involved in

this project.

What Bangladesh can do:

Bangladeshi jute products are of good quality and suitable to

use. But we have to increase the awareness of peoples of all

file and rank to avoid foreign goods and use our jute goods as

prayer mate, blankets, yarn and fabrics, school bags, sandals,

kitchen aprons, jewelry box cover, tissue box cover, cushon.

In Japan I have noticed that up to college level, the school

and college authority choose bags for the students. These

bags are available in particular shops. Parents of the students

are compelled to buy those particular bags. (I also have to

buy this bag by 12000\~Tk 6000/, because my son is a

elementary school student). In Bangladesh, the school and

college authority can select our jute bags as school / college

bags for the students. Recently, jute bags are being used as

substitute for thin poly bags. This is a very good sign

because these jute bags are biodegradable whereas polybags

are bot biodegradable and are a threat for environment,

drainage system, soil fertility and also for health (when burnt

for recycling purpose).

I want to draw the attention of the ministry of jute, ministry of

textiles (including Ready Made Garment sector) and ministry

of industries to work together and allocate sufficient money in

the research in jute sector and evaluate the scientists now

working in this field.

Last but not the least, the related body/organizations of the

government can do the following to increase the awareness of

the mass peoples of the country:

(i) Telecast and broadcast eye-catching advertisements on

jute goods using electronic and print media

(ii) Encourage students of universities, colleges and schools to

use jute bags

(iii) Encourage and appeal on the good sense of ladies to use

jute bags as fashion bags, jewellery box cover, tissue box

cover, photo frame, cushon, kitchen aprons, sandals, etc.

(iv) Appeal on the good sense of artists, designers, TV & Film

actor /actress to use jute goods in public functions

(v) Motivate textile (Cloth) shop owners to keep jute made

fabrics and not to sale smuggled foreign cloths however

profitable those may be. (vi) Motivate and involve the NGOs

and Female organizations for the promotion of jute goods

(vii) Allocate big amount of money for research and encourage

the present researchers in BJRI by giving them various

incentives such as higher salary, cash prize, awards for their

current contribution and telecast those in electronic and print

media. And also develop a system for yearly evaluation of the

creative activity of these scientists.

(viii) Expand the marketing system of jute goods so that

peoples can buy these products at mill gate price (or, possible

lowest price) in desired quantity at different locations of the

country along with textile

(ix) Make arrangements for Fair, Exhibition in all district and

Upozella headquarters at 3 months intervals

(x) Create new concepts and designs using and involving

BJRI, BJMC experts and use these new

concepts and designs by developing and training women in

remote and rural clusters with cooperations of

NGOs.