Jute: A promising future ahead

Jute is not only our past glory but can also become golden future. The golden fibre can be the new growth driver of Bangladesh's economy.

There are distinct signs that the past glory of jute, the ‘Golden Fibre of Bengal’, may stage a comeback soon. Bangladesh has sought foreign investment in Bangladesh’s jute sector. Due to the growing popularity of organic products worldwide, environmental awareness, people’s interest in jute and jute products have shot up. Jute is believed to be the second most important natural fibre after cotton in terms of use, product and availability. It is a totally natural, biodegradable and compostable fibre obtained from the jute plant and therefore an extremely attractive renewable resource for those who give priority to environmental and ecological concerns. Hopefully, in the coming days, there will be a huge demand for jute products and Bangladesh can be a global leader in this sector.

We are happy to note that jute goods are in high demand at the ongoing Dhaka International Trade Fare, DITF, due their diverse, innovative and environment-friendly nature.

Jute is not just a cash crop in Bangladesh. Jute is so ingrained in Bangladeshi culture that its leaves feature on the national emblem, and the government has a Ministry of Textiles and Jute. There’s even a National Jute Day, March 6, to observe jute’s endowment to heritage and its future in the manufacture of items that are all fully biodegradable and largely inexpensive. 

Unfortunately, the government jute mills are in very sorry states; the technology of the mills has not been upgraded, which severely hurts the mills productivity. These mills, often after they are reopened, struggle to reach optimum efficiency. Private sector mills have always been more efficient than the public sector ones and we believe that the job of running such mills should be left to skilled private sector management.

However, the government still has a vital role to play. To ensure a flourishing jute sector, the government should create a fostering culture. Instead of reopening mills, which have had a history of losses, the government should focus on establishing more research and development centres in collaboration or partnership with other stakeholders. These centres would focus on product development and provide new technology to increase efficiency and productivity. Also the government needs to take steps to encourage the use and production of diversified products.

Bangladesh has a huge potential to further diversify its jute products and realise higher value added from its jute resources. Despite the small share of diversified jute products relative to the jute sector as a whole, there is a wide range of products within the subsector. Currently, around 750 small and medium enterprises in the country are producing various types of diversified products like bags, carpets, shoes, saris, curtains etc. The markets for these commodities are expanding both in the domestic and foreign markets. It must be said though that the major reasons for the failure of Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in capturing a significant portion of the global market for these products have been limited production of jute fabrics, dearth of innovation and research initiatives as well as financing problems.

The demand for jute sacks is on the rise from African countries like Sudan, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Tanzania and Uganda, where they are used for food grain packaging. Jute pulp has also got the potential to make paper. The technological advancement and know-how required to do so must be provided by the government to the mills. There is the potential for use of jute fibre in the replacement of glass/synthetic fibre for plastic reinforcement. Bangladesh also has the potential to become the main supplier of jute to the global automobile industry, which is now using the natural fibre to manufacture automobile interiors.