An overview of research and development in jute and allied fibre crops in India Mahapatra B.S.*, Director, Mitra Sabyasachi, Senior Scientist, Kumar Mukesh, Scientist, Ghorai A.K., Principal Scientist, Sarkar S.K., Senior Scientist, Kar C.S., Senior Scientist, Kundu D.K.1, Satpathy S.2, Karmakar P.G.3 Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres, Barrackpore, Kolkata, West Bengal-700 120 1Head, Crop Production 2Head, Crop Protection 3Head, Crop Improvement *Corresponding author Email: bsmahapatra@gmail.com
Online published on 31 March, 2015. Abstract Jute and allied fibre crops play an important role in Indian economy. Raw jute farming alone creates employment of 10 million man days in agricultural sector per annum. Global production of jute and allied fibres is around 3.0 million tonnes, 92.5% of which comes from India and Bangladesh. India is the single largest producer of jute goods, contributes about 60% of the global production, and the present export earning is to the tune of  1200 crores per annum. Over the last five decades, the productivity of jute has doubled from 1.04 t/ha in 1950–51 to 2.12 t/ha in 2009–10, which has been possible due to the introduction of high yielding and premature flowering resistant varieties along with improved production technologies and appropriate policy interventions. Cost effective weed control technologies, soil test based fertilizer application, use of efficient microbial consortium, development of energy efficient machines like seed drill, bast fibre extractors, etc. has increased the efficiency as well as the profitability of the jute and allied fibre based production systems. Development of tossa and white jute varieties having finer fibre (2.38 – 2.80 tex in tossa and 1.45 – 1.61 tex in white jute) is a significant breakthrough in research as majority of the jute diversified products require finer fibre. The renewed interest of the consumers all over the world for the eco-friendly and bio-degradable products is a big fillip for the natural fibres, and jute and allied fibre sector need to encash this opportunity. This review aims at presenting the significant research achievements in jute and allied fibre crops and also to analyse the constraints faced by the jute and allied fibre sector to make it viable globally. Top Keywords Fibre crops, Jute, Nutrient management, Retting, Weed, Yield. Top |