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Call to restore jute’s lost sheen
BIRATNAGAR, JUN 27 -
Cultivation of jute, once a major cash crop in the eastern region, is on the verge of collapse due to the government’s failure to introduce effective programmes and offer incentives to encourage farmers.
Speaking at a programme organised by the Industrial
Crop Development Programme (ICDP), agricultural experts and concerned stakeholders said that the government’s negligence had resulted in the closure of dozens of jute-based factories.
The programme was organised to discuss the difficulties being faced in jute production, processing, marketing and development.
Experts said that jute factories could no longer survive by importing raw materials from India and Bangladesh. They added that priority should be given to jute production to make the country’s jute industry independent with regard to raw materials.
Out of the 11 jute factories in eastern Nepal, eight are still running. They require about 80,000 tons of raw jute annually.
Agriculture expert Dr. Mohan Chandra Ghimire said that current output fulfilled only 30 percent of the requirement with the rest being imported from neighbouring countries. Nepal’s jute industry exports jute products worth more than Rs. 4 billion annually and employs more than 20,000 people, Ghimire added.
More than 17,000 tons of jute is produced on 12,000 hectares of land in the eastern region annually while a decade ago, production was 70,000 tons on 40,000 hectares. According to Ghimire, the country used to export jute to India and Bangladesh during this time.
ICDP director Ram Prasad Pulami said that the failure of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to introduce programmes to encourage farmers and jute production was the reason behind the poor output.
Pulami added that there was a need to give priority to jute cultivation. He said that if Nepal joined the International Jute Study Centre and provided technical and financial support to farmers, jute’s lost glory could be regained.
Currently, jute is grown on 8,350 hectares in Morang, 1,993 hectares in Sunsari, 135 hectares in Siraha and 40 hectares in Udayapur.
Posted on: 2010-06-28 09:34
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