New Delhi, September 16 (IANS). Among the fibers, jute is the second most important cash crop in India after cotton. But the irony is that for the last few years, the cultivation of jute, known as the golden fiber, has been continuously declining. In the last four decades, jute producers have faced many adverse circumstances. There was a time when the government had made a protection policy to protect jute farmers. At that time, it was mandatory for all factories including sugar, rice, cement to use at least 30 percent jute bags. But later, due to the prevalence of plastic bags, there was a gradual decline in jute packaging. Due to the rampant use of plastic bags, the demand for jute in the domestic market kept decreasing. Due to which jute cultivation has declined considerably.
It is noteworthy that even today about 1.4 crore people in West Bengal, Assam and Bihar earn their livelihood from jute production. Kosi region was once known for jute cultivation in the country and the world. In terms of production, this area has been the third largest jute production center of the country after West Bengal and Assam. Jute has been the main source of cash income for lakhs of farmers of Purnia, Katihar, Madhepura, Supaul, Araria and Kishanganj.
However, after the rise of textile and plastic industries, jute has suffered a major blow. Even in terms of technology, jute was left behind its competing industries. It is another matter that compared to nature-friendly jute, plastic has now started wreaking havoc on the earth. Excessive use of plastic has caused serious damage to the environment and ecology. In such a situation, the importance of eco-friendliness still remains.
The National Jute Policy was formulated in 2005 to increase productivity, improve quality, secure good prices for jute farmers and increase yield per hectare. It aims to enable the jute industry to develop world-class state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities.
Apart from this, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of raw jute for the 2024-25 season. The MSP of raw jute has been fixed at Rs 5,335 per quintal for the 2024-25 season. This will ensure a return of 64.8 per cent on the all-India weighted average cost of production. The MSP of raw jute announced for the 2024-25 season is in line with the principle of fixing MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production announced by the government in Budget 2018-19.
Despite all these initiatives, the rampant use of plastic bags is still a big problem for the jute industry. Big companies are still reluctant to use jute for packaging. Also, climate change is also wreaking havoc on jute cultivation. The jute plant is very sensitive to weather. Even a slight adverse weather condition can destroy this plant. In the last few years, the weather cycle is constantly getting unbalanced, as a result jute production is also getting affected. The lack of water reservoirs is also badly affecting jute cultivation. Traditional sources of stagnant water such as ponds and puddles etc. are rapidly decreasing or disappearing, which has had a very adverse effect on jute.
–IANS
RK/AS
