Jute
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Jute is a long, soft, shiny plant fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which see for botanical information and other uses.
Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibres, and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials cellulose and lignin.
Jute is a rainy season crop, growing best in warm, humid climates. India, Bangladesh, and China are the main producers of jute.
To grow jute, farmers scatter the seeds on cultivated soil. When the plants are about 15-20 cm tall, they are thinned out. About four months after planting, harvesting begins. The plants are usually harvested after they flower, but before the flowers go to seed. The stalks are cut off close to the ground. The stalks are tied into bundles and retted (soaked) in water for about 20 days. This process softens the tissues and permits the fibres to be separated. The fibres are then stripped from the stalks in long strands and washed in clear, running water. Then they are hung up or spread on thatched roofs to dry. After 2-3 days of drying, the fibres are tied into bundles.
Jute is graded (rated) according to its colour, strength, and fibre length. The fibres are off-white to brown, and 1-4 m long. Jute is pressed into bales for shipment to manufacturers.
Jute_matting.jpg
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, hessian cloth, and backing for linoleum. However, jute is being replaced by synthetic materials for many these uses, though the importance of biodegradation in some situations where artificial fibres are unsuitable leaves some uses open to jute. Examples of such uses include containers for planting young trees which can be planted directly with the container without disturbing the rooots, 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 fibres to make twine and rope. 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.
Jute fibres can also be used to make 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 processing is concentrated in Kolkata (Calcutta), India and various scattered places in Bangladesh. For years, Jute has been an integral part of Bengali culture. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much was also exported to the United Kingdom unprocessed, where it was then processed in mills concentrated in Dundee ("Jute Weaver" was a recognised trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970. The Adamjee Jute Mill in Bangladesh was the world's largest jute mill with 1,939 looms and 25,000 employees, but was closed by the Bangladeshi government in June 2002 because of low profits.
Some Features of Jute
- Jute is 100% bio-degradable & recyclable and thus environment friendly.
- Jute is a natural fiber with golden & silky shine, and hence nicknamed as The Golden Fibre.
- Jute is the most cheap vegetable fiber procured from bast of the Jute plant and it falls into the category of bast fibers (other bast fibers are Flax, Hemp, Ramie, etc.).
- Jute is the second most important vegetable fiber after cotton.
- Jute has high tensile strength, and low extensibility.
- Jute is one of the most versatile natural fibers that has been used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile, and agricultural sectors.
- Jute stem has very high volume of cellulose that can procured within 4-6 months, and hence it also can save the forest and meet cellulose and wood requirement of the world.
- The best varieties of Jute are Bangla Tosha - Corchorus olitorius (Golden shine) & Bangla White - Corchorus capsularis (Whitish Shine), and Meshta or Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) is another species with fibre similar to Jute with medium quality.
- Raw Jute & Jute goods are interpreted as Burlap, Industrial Hemp, and Kenaf in some parts of the world.
- The best source of Jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plain, which is occupied by Bangladesh and India.
External links
- International Jute Study Group (http://www.jute.org/)
A UN collaboration for learning various aspects of Jute and Kenaf. Its headquarter is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- About Jute (http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/J_0135.HTM)
Site to know about some features of Jute.
- Corchorus olitorius (Tossa Jute) (http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Corchorus_olitorius.html)
Site to know about some features of Tossa Jute.
- Leading Jute Exporters
- Bangladesh: The Golden Fibre Trade Centre Limited (GFTCL) (http://www.jutexporterbangladesh.ne1.net)
- India: Jaikishan Dass Mall Jute Products (http://www.jmjute.com/)
- China: Zhejiang Jute Co. Ltd. (http://www.zj-jute.com/)de:Jute