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From Christian Dior boutiques to royal wedding gifts, with the surge in demand for plastic alternatives, jute is becoming more and more popular worldwide. Experts predict that by 2024, the value of the bag industry alone will exceed 3 billion Dollar.
India is eager to take advantage of this consumer shift and seize the opportunity to revive its sluggish industry, expanding it from sacks and sacks to fashion.
This fiber is also called burlap, burlap, or burlap, and is popular with environmentalists because it helps to capture carbon and uses fewer natural resources than cotton.
“One hectare [2.47 acres] The jute plant can absorb nearly 15 tons of carbon dioxide and emit 11 tons of oxygen in one season, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect,” estimates Swati Singh Sambyal, a sustainable development and circular economy expert based in New Delhi.
She added that compared with cotton, production only takes about four months and requires “minimal water and fertilizer.”
During the British rule, the jute industry was an important part of the Indian economy. This fabric was exported all over the world, but by the 1990s, it was in trouble, unable to compete with cheaper synthetic alternatives and lower production by farmers in neighboring Bangladesh. Cost competition.
Today, India is trying to promote jute as a fabric for a sustainable future. The government issued a directive that all grains and 20% of sugar should be packed in jute bags.
Leading local designers such as Ashish Soni and Pawan Aswani also use jute blends in their fashion collections.
But critics warn that the country’s dilapidated factories and outdated agricultural practices are inconsistent with such grand ambitions.
“India can meet global demand, but it needs to do two things: improve the skills of its people…produce different types of products and upgrade machines,” said Gurangakkar, head of the Central Research Institute for Jute and Related Fibers.
There are about 70 jute factories in West Bengal, some of which were built in the 19th century and mainly produce burlap sacks for packaging coffee and grain, but there has been little change in machinery and production methods since then.
In Meghna Jute Mills, hundreds of barefoot workers work in shifts 24 hours a day and 24 hours a day, working in a huge dim hall full of fine fiber dust.
“Jute has a potentially huge international market,” said company president Supriya Das, because noisy machines rolled long shiny yarns behind him.
“If the machine is high-tech, we can produce high-quality yarn. For diversified end uses, the quality of the fiber must be improved. Unless we launch value-added products such as decorations and carpets, the industry will not survive.”
Due to the favorable humid climate and the supply of cheap labor, almost all the jute in the world is grown in this region or Bangladesh.
According to a recent report by Research and Markets, as consumers look for alternatives to disposable plastics, the global jute bag market value will reach 2.07 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 and is expected to reach 3.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2024.
Brands such as Dior make jute sandals, and the Duchess of Sussex wears jute shoes and uses burlap gift bags to provide the attractiveness of this material to guests attending her wedding to Prince Harry.
Carl said India should seize the opportunity to invest in the industry and produce a variety of jute-based products such as carpets, lamps, shoes and shopping bags.
Kar explained that Indian scientists have developed high-yielding jute varieties to tap this new interest, but unskilled labor and outdated farming methods mean that this has not yet translated into economic returns.
“This is a main reason for our concern,” he added.
The coronavirus pandemic has also thwarted hopes of restoring the lost glory of the industry-several factories have been closed, and shutdowns have led to shortages of labor and raw materials.
Environmentalists insist that jute has huge economic and green potential, especially when consumers express concerns about fast fashion and more national legislation bans single-use plastics.
Sambyal explained that every part of the jute plant can be used: the outer layer of fibers, the woody stems of pulp, and the leaves can be cooked and eaten.
The United Nations Environment Programme stated that the earth is “submerged in plastic pollution”, producing approximately 300 million tons of plastic waste every year.
According to the 2018-19 report of the Central Pollution Control Commission, India generates 3.3 million tons of plastic waste every year.
Back at Meghna Mills, the factory owners hope that if the authorities invest, they can rebrand and restart jute for the 21st century.
Das said: “Jute has a bright future. It can bring a lot of precious foreign exchange to the country, so the government must focus on this area.”
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