‘Jute production to be 20% lower this year on floods’

Jute production is expected to drop by 20% this financial year, said Shashi Bhushan Singh, secretary of the National Jute Board.

Mr. Singh, who was in Coimbatore for an expo organised by the Board, told The Hindu on Thursday that cultivation was affected in West Bengal and Assam because of natural calamities this year. Floods had damaged the crop in some areas, impacting production.

Jute exports had the potential for ₹4,500 crore annually. It was ₹3,000 crore last financial year and was projected to be almost ₹3,500 crore during the current fiscal.

The Board was preparing a draft for Jute Technology Mission 2.0 and conducted meetings with stakeholders. It was also supporting research projects to find more applications for jute. Lab testing was over for extracting ethanol from jute plants. It was estimated that one tonne of jute plant would give 495 litres of ethanol. There were plans to set up a pilot unit, he said. Another project was to make jute composite materials that could be used for different purposes, he said.

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