Jute acreage, output fell drastically in 2014

The acreage and output of jute in 2014 was the lowest in five years, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension.
Due to falling prices there has been a steady decline in farmers’ interest in growing jute since 2011, said DAE officials.
In 2014, jute output stood at 75.01 lakh bales against the government set target of 80.14 lakh bales.
Jute acreage in the year stood at 6.73 lakh hectares against the target of 7.57 lakh hectares set by the government, said officials.
Import of low quality seeds mostly from India also discouraged the farmers to grow the cash crop, they said.
Near drought situation in the previous year was yet another discouraging factor, as  plenty of water was needed from sowing to rotting of jute, they said.
DAE data shows that jute cultivation and output steadily declined since 2011 when output stood at 80.03 lakh bales and the acreage at 7.60 lakh hectares.
DAE additional director for monitoring  Chaitanya Kumar Das told New Age  Sunday that low price was discouraging the  farmers from growing jute, a labour intensive crop.
Low price driven by low demand in the international market dampened the framers’ interest in growing jute,   Bangladesh Jute Research Institute director general Kamal Uddin told New Age.
He said that it would not be possible to revive farmers’ interest in growing jute until and unless domestic consumption was increased and diversified by strict enforcement of the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010.
The replacement of synthetic bags by jute bags for packaging would create an additional demand for 15 lakh bales of jute per year, he said.
Though the law enacted in 2010 requires the mandatory use of jute bags for packaging paddy, rice, wheat, sugar, fertilizers and  maize, he said, only synthetic bags were used in marketing all these items.
He said that the farmers should be provided all support to grow and store quality jute seeds.