SPEAKERS at a roundtable in the city on Tuesday have laid emphasis on producing diversified jute products and increasing the products’ use in domestic market to restore the past glory of jute. The government has reopened some jute mills and ordered businesses for using jute as packaging materials. There is also enough opportunity for small and medium enterprises to produce fashionable goods and handicrafts to make them popular at home and abroad. Quality seeds, low cost loans and fair prices of the produce should support jute farming while concerted efforts need to be at work in public and private sectors to run jute mills, produce new products and create new markets at home and abroad.
Jute products are popular in developed countries as biodegradable produce. What is important is to reach diversified products to developed markets such as shopping bags and sacks as replacement to synthetic products. They clog drains and canals and obstruct normal flow of water threatening environment. Jute products keep the environment pollution free. Jute is used now even making the interior of luxury cars. It is also used for riverbank protection.
In a highly sensitive global market as biodegradable products jute in Bangladesh has a highly potential export market, in addition to big domestic market. It can fetch the lost glory again. What is dismaying is that the industry lost much of its pristine glory because of the neglect and failure of the successive past governments. As it turn loss making for many reasons the government decided to shut most mills instead of strengthening the managerial capacity to overcome the setback exacerbated by unruly labour movement. Meanwhile India set up many mills taking advantage of shrinking importance of this industry in Bangladesh.
What is important at this moment is that jute must be restored to mainstream economic activities. Since the country has achieved breakthrough in rice production over the past three decades increasing the output by almost three times, it is time to refocus attention to restore the glory of jute again. The jute policy needs to be properly implemented as it shows lack of efforts to achieve the goal. When in neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal new jute mills have been set up on regular basis taking jute from Bangladesh as raw materials Bangladesh has only destroyed big mills like Adamjee Jute Mill thereby handing over the industry to Indian domination.
What is at Bangladesh’s advantage is that our land and weather is most suitable to produce fine quality jute unlike other countries. Our scientists have decoded DNA of jute to increase the output manifold. We only need concerted efforts to reestablish the industry in the mainstream of the economy. In our view we must move with new growth target and commitment to bring this industry at its peak again.
