Dhaka- Many Arab, Asian and African countries do not know what “jute” is, even though it is the second largest fiber crop in the world in terms of cultivation and use after cotton, or they use some of its products but do not realize that they are made from jute fibres.
On the other hand, in recent years, others in European and Asian countries have begun to learn about the jute plant and products, as part of the broader trend of returning to nature and moving away from chemicals and environmental pollutants such as plastic, industrial dyes, and so on.
Jute is a plant that grows in subtropical regions. It is one of the most abundant natural fibers in terms of production and frequent use after cotton. It is grown to obtain its fibers, which are described as “golden fibres,” due to their high market or monetary value, as well as their characteristic shine and softness, had they not lost that luster. With storage.
Jute fibers are spun into rough and strong ropes and threads, and bags, shoes, sacks, carpets, boards and wooden partitions for office and home furniture are made from them, and this is what surprises many people.
Jute goes through many stages before it becomes usable, including:
- Separate the stems from the leaves, cut them and wash them.
- Bury it with mud or silt.
- Converting it into fibers that can be used.
During a tour, an Al Jazeera Net correspondent in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, monitored one of the seasonal jute exhibitions, where hundreds of products manufactured from this plant, which Bangladesh exports, are sold to about 135 countries. Bangladesh’s production reaches 1.6 million tons annually, according to figures from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). ) for the year 2019.
The value of jute exports exceeds one billion dollars annually, making it the second largest jute producing country in the world after India, which produces 55% of global jute production. China comes after them, but with a large difference.
Productivity awakening
Between 1947-1948, Bangladesh occupied about 80% of the global jute export market, but that percentage declined to about 25% in the mid-1970s after many Asian countries caught up with the cultivation of this plant, including India, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, but farmers and manufacturers Bangladesh has returned to progress in recent years, as it today produces about 42% of its global production.
According to the Bangladeshi magazine IDLC, the world produces about 3.9 million metric tons of jute and its fibers, and the production growth rate was 1.8% in the period between 2007-2018.
Of this quantity, India produces 2.1 million metric tons, followed by Bangladesh with a production of 1.6 million metric tons.
Jute is one of the oldest agricultural industry sectors in the country, and although Bangladesh is second in jute production, it is actually first in exporting its fibers and products, as it exports about 285 types of them, and jute fibers and products contribute about 1% of Bangladesh’s gross domestic product and 3% of its exports. The country.
Many sources indicate that Bengali jute is undisputedly the best in the world in terms of its quality.
In September last year, the Textiles Today information network estimated the size of the jute bags market alone – apart from other products – at about $4 billion globally during the next three years, compared to about $2.3 billion three years ago.
There are about 245 factories for the production of jute fibers in Bangladesh, most of which are from the private sector, and about 700 workshops or factories for the production of jute products. Indeed, the national emblem of Bangladesh, as well as the logo of its central bank, bears leaves of the jute plant, in whose agricultural fields and production areas more than 300,000 Bangladeshis work. .
Awareness of the importance of jute
Seema Bose Adera, Marketing Director at the Jute Production Development Center in Bangladesh affiliated with the Bangladeshi Ministry of Textiles and Jute, told Al Jazeera Net that the past years have witnessed an increase in jute consumption, especially during the (Covid-19) pandemic, as many began looking for jute as an alternative. Environmentally friendly for many daily uses, after a period of decline in the years preceding the pandemic, during which the world witnessed a rush towards a culture of plastic use.
She adds that from a marketing and psychological perspective, the desire to use jute products cannot be stripped of awareness of the importance of preserving the environment and establishing environmentally friendly consumer behavior, especially since the type of Bengali jute is the best, known as (Tosha) jute, as its fibers are grown in Bangladesh and factors related to the soil. Water and climate are the best in the world.
Bangladesh accounts for about 70% of the production of this variety, and sometimes jute is mixed with cotton, sari, or with the traditional Bangladeshi jamdani fabric woven from Mosul silk in sewing traditional clothes.
This comes as many people search for alternatives to dispense with chemical and plastic products, especially since there are countries or cities that have begun to ban the use of plastic bags in shops, as Sima says.
Adira points out that some markets have increased consumption of jute, to the point that it has become a socio-economic phenomenon among many residents of some areas.
As the danger of plastic and its uses in daily life – industrially, domestically and commercially – become clear, the use of sacks, bags and products made of jute becomes an environmental choice par excellence, as its cultivation does not require large amounts of water, as it is easier to cultivate than many other crops.
Kenz Sultana, a manufacturer of jute products, told Al Jazeera Net during her participation with her female relatives and colleagues in an exhibition of the products of this plant in Dhaka to display their products that the past few years have witnessed a demand from different segments around the world that realize the environmental value of using jute in the past years, especially since it is used for everything Natural colours, but small producers need greater support to enhance their production.
But the scene is not devoid of difficulties and challenges, as Seema says. Bangladesh faces challenges, the most prominent of which is facing competition in pricing, production and design with India, which is the most productive, as well as China, despite its limited production. Bangladesh needs to improve the skills of workers in jute production, as well as manufacturing and production techniques, to be able to provide lower prices. Competitive and better.
Jute and wars
The increase in demand for jute products from the regions of Bengal at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century was linked to wars and international events, including the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865, as well as the Crimean War between 1853 and 1856, but wars may negatively affect the economy, as the ongoing Russian war in Russia and the ongoing war In Sudan, for example, it weakened the export of jute to those tense areas.
The production of sugar by the Dutch East India Company (the equivalent of the British East India Company) on the Indonesian island of Java required packing it in sacks or jute bags, which were ordered from Bengal.
By the end of the 19th century, the city of Calcutta, which is the largest city in the West Bengal region in India today, where the Indian Bengalis live, was the commercial center from which export shipments of jute were sent to the world, including Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. By the year 1882, there were more than 10,000 workers work in jute factories, which are harvested from areas that are today within the borders of Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal today in India, and many of these factories were owned by foreigners.
