Home ›› 17 Sep 2021 ›› Editorial
We have a rich history when it comes to jute cultivation and producing different kinds of jute products. Exporting jute was our main source of earning foreign revenue, up until the 1970s. Our jute industry has seen its ups and downs over the years. For example, Adamjee Jute Mills was one of the pride jewels of Bangladesh. It was the biggest jute mill in the world. Due to reasons unknown, it was not able to see a profit for some time. There are widespread allegations that due to mismanagement and atrocities of some profit mongers, Adamjee Jute Mill had to shut down. Bangladesh saw an era when many jute mills of our country were closing down, the opposite was happeing in Indian states like West Bengal. Jute was our main export before the RMG (Readymade garment) industry started to grow in our country.
Jute is a natural fibre that grows in some South Asian countries where plenty of water is available in canals and rivers. It goes through several processes, from sowing to soaking in water for weeks and then separating the fibre from the stick. The price is fixed as per the grades of the fiver. It grows in certain months of the monsoon season when the canals and rivers get filled up with water. The unique property of this fibre is it is biodegradable. The very first product of jute was perhaps seen in making rope of various sizes and length since time immemorial. It is in use for constructing rural houses with wood, bamboo or iron sheet; tie domestic animals and fasten boats with an anchor. Ropes used to be made by men and women in the villages in their leisure time. Gradually people learned to make jute bags with yarns, shika (pot hangers) and a few other products, which can be labeled as the first handicraft products. Selling ropes and jute products in local markets became a money earning occupation of many village families.
With the passage of time, we had plenty of brilliant innovations of jute polymer. The ‘sonali bag’, clothes from jute polymer, a fabric made by blending jute and cotton are some of them. It is very much evident that there is no shortage of new ideas or innovations. However, for some unknown reasons such notable discoveries do not find their place in the market for wide use. Take the Sonali Bag for example, we heard so much about how eco-friendly the ‘sonali bag’ which will replace plastic bags in a couple of years. This product is biodegradable and can and does serve the same purpose as polythene. Moreover, it’s water-resistant. Those who are cognizant of the environment have a clear idea about how dangerous polythene bags are for the environment. A United Nations Environment Programme, survey indicates an estimated eight million tonnes of plastics end up in the ocean – equivalent to a full garbage truck dumped into the sea every minute, each year, globally.
We came across news like, how developed countries like the USA, France and Germany are becoming more conscious about environment, and how they are planning to stop or reduce the use of polyethene in their everyday use. Based on the findings of the United Nations and news reports, 77 countries in the world have agreed to some sort of full or partial ban on plastic bags including China, France, India, and Denmark.
We even came across news like how some of these countries have shown interest in procuring the “Sonali bag”. Which in turn will open up a huge market for us. We were informed that there are several plans in motion to make sure the Sonali bag is made available for the use of the masses. Nevertheless, several years later after its invention, we are yet to find such plans to be implemented. Interestingly enough when news of Sonali Bag became widespread, many businessmen went to Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation with high hopes. Their goal was to apply and accrue permission to buy and start the process of exporting. It is no secret that the ease of doing business is not that good, and not having enough support of cooperation from the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation authorities, many of them decided not to go ahead with this particular business process.
Today the national crop of Bangladesh jute is exported to more than 100 countries in the world. One will be delighted to know that today Bangladesh exports jute products worth USD 1 billion to different countries.
Accordingly, the government will set up exhibition centres and outlets in all divisional cities and district towns in phases to make sustainable and environment-friendly jute products readily available and popularise them. The Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) steering committee meeting, chaired by Textiles and Jute Secretary Abdul Mannan, took the decision recently. The seven JESC centres are in Dhaka, Narsingdi, Rangpur, Jashore, Chattogram, Tangail and Jamalpur. About 800 JDPC trained entrepreneurs make 282 types of jute products and sell them at home and abroad.
If this plan is implemented then both the buyers and sellers of jute products will be able to select products from one particular place. That in turn will motivate the local buyers to buy more jute products and the sellers can get the right price for their products. Some of the most popular jute products of the country are jute sacks or hessian bags for packing grains like rice, wheat and sugar, jute yarn, jute twine and fabric, shika (pot hanger), bedroom rugs, bathroom rugs, large carpet, bedroom slippers, fancy shopping bags and curtain cloth.
Nowadays we might be exporting a good amount of jute products, but we have to bear in mind that our neighboring country India is our biggest competitor regarding jute products. If we look at our competitor India, they are far ahead in terms of jute production, they have a significant advantage when it comes to branding jute products. They might not be the market leader at the moment, but looking at their representation of the product online, it’s certainly better than us. Keeping that in mind we should always be vigilant about new markets to make sure we stay on top.
The writer is Editorial Assistant at The Business Post
