Perspective of Jute in a New Realm beyond Sacking

Jute is an eco-friendly, cheap and excellent fibre, traditionally used for sacking and hessian. India produces 80% of jute of total global demand. Owing to environment friendly properties, this ‘golden fiber'has been used as a safe material for packing and transport. However, dilution of JPM act coupled with competition from synthetic/man-made fibres, demand of jute for traditional usages i.e. sacking and hessian has decreased over past five years. Under such circumstances, application of jute for diversified product has become necessary for survival of around 44 lakhs direct and indirectly related workers (covering farmers and mill workers) associated with the jute industry. Jute diversified products like shopping bags, wall hangings, floor covering, non-ovens, geo-textiles, composites etc has opened up a new realm beyond traditional application of jute. Export of jute diversified products has increased from INR 363.593 to 590.215 corers during 2012–13 to 2016–17. Present status paper reports various type of jute diversified products along with their market scope, performance and opportunity across the world.