Jute

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Jute fiber Jute - Kolkata 2003-10-31 00538.JPG
Jute fiber
A jute field in Bangladesh Jute Field Bangladesh (7749587518).jpg
A jute field in Bangladesh
Jute rope Jute Rope (cnnl kyirru).jpg
Jute rope

Jute is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus Corchorus , of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius , but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis . [1]

Contents

Jute is one of the most affordable natural fibers and second to cotton in the amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibers, composed primarily of cellulose and lignin, are collected from bast (the phloem of the plant, sometimes called the "skin") of plants like kenaf, industrial hemp, flax (linen), and ramie. The industrial term for jute fiber is raw jute. The fibers are off-white to brown and range from 1–4 meters (3–13 feet) long. In Bangladesh, jute is called the "golden fiber" for its color and high cash value. [2]

The bulk of the jute trade is centered in South Asia, with India and Bangladesh as the primary producers. The majority of jute is used for durable and sustainable packaging, such as burlap sacks. Its production and usage declined as disposable plastic packaging became common, but this trend has begun to reverse as merchants and even nations phase out or ban single-use plastics. [3] [4]

Cultivation

Jute plants (Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis) Jute plant.gif
Jute plants (Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis)
Jute sticks Jute sticks.jpg
Jute sticks

The jute plant needs plain alluvial soil and standing water. During the monsoon season, the monsoon climate offers a warm and wet environment which is suitable for growing jute. Temperatures from 20 to 40 °C (68–104 °F) and relative humidity of 70%–80% are favorable for successful cultivation. Jute requires 5–8 cm (2–3 in) of rainfall weekly and more during the sowing time. Soft water is necessary for jute production.

White jute (Corchorus capsularis)

Historical documents (including Ain-e-Akbari by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak in 1590) state that the poor villagers of India used to wear clothing made of jute. The weavers used simple hand-spinning wheels and hand looms, which they also used to spin cotton yarns. History also suggests that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white jute from ancient times for household and other uses. Jute is highly functional for carrying grains or other agricultural products.

Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius)

Tossa jute ( Corchorus olitorius ) is a variety thought to be native to South Asia. It is grown for both fiber and culinary purposes. People use the leaves as an ingredient in a mucilaginous potherb called "molokhiya" (ملوخية, of uncertain etymology), which is mainly used in some Arabic countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria as a soup-based dish, sometimes with meat over rice or lentils. The King James translation of the Book of Job (chapter 30, verse 4), in the Hebrew Bible, mistranslates the word מלוחmaluaḥ, which means "salty", [5] as "mallow", which in turn has led some to identify this jute species as that what was meant by the translators, and led it to be called 'Jew's mallow' in English. [6] It is high in protein, vitamin C, beta-carotene, calcium, and iron.

Bangladesh and other countries in Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific mainly use jute for its fiber. Tossa jute fiber is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute. This variety shows good sustainability in the Ganges Delta climate. Along with white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil of Bengal where has been known as paat since the start of the 19th century. Coremantel, Bangladesh, is the largest global producer of the tossa jute variety. In India, West Bengal is the largest producer of jute.

History

Jute has been used for making textiles in the Indus valley civilization since the 3rd millennium BC. [7]

In classical antiquity, Pliny recorded that jute plants were used as food in Ancient Egypt. [8] It may have also been cultivated by the Jews in the Near East. [8]

For centuries, jute has been a part of the culture of Bangladesh and some parts of West Bengal and Assam. The British started trading in jute during the seventeenth century. During the reign of the British Empire, jute was also used in the military. British jute barons grew rich by processing jute and selling manufactured products made from it. Dundee Jute Barons and the British East India Company set up many jute mills in Bengal, and by 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scottish jute trade. Many Scots emigrated to Bengal to set up jute factories. More than a billion jute sandbags were exported from Bengal to the trenches of World War I, and to the American South for bagging cotton. It was used in multiple industries, including the fishing, construction, art, and arms industries.

Due to its coarse and tough texture, jute could initially only be processed by hand, until someone in Dundee discovered that treating it with whale oil made it machine processable. [9] The industry boomed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ("jute weaver" was a recognized trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this trade largely ceased by about 1970, being substituted for by synthetic fibres. In the 21st century, jute has become a large export again, mainly in Bangladesh.

Production

Jute stems being retted in water to separate the fibers paatt pNcaano.jpg
Jute stems being retted in water to separate the fibers
Jute worker transporting processed jute in Bangladesh Jute worker with processed jute.jpg
Jute worker transporting processed jute in Bangladesh

The jute fiber comes from the stem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibers are first extracted by retting, a process where jute stems are bundled together and immersed in slow running water. There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon.[ clarification needed ] After the retting process, stripping begins; women and children usually do this job. In the stripping process, workers scrape off non-fibrous matter, then dig in and grab the fibers from within the jute stem. [10] [ clarification needed ]

Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides, in contrast to cotton's heavy requirements.[ citation needed ] [11] Production in India is concentrated mostly in West Bengal. [12] India is the world's largest producer of jute, [13] [14] but imported approximately 162,000 tonnes [15] of raw fiber and 175,000 tonnes [16] of jute products in 2011. India, Pakistan, and China import significant quantities of jute fiber and products from Bangladesh, as do the United Kingdom, Japan, United States, France, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and Brazil. Jute and jute products formerly held the top position among Bangladesh's most exported goods, although now they stand second after ready-made apparel. [17] Annually, Bangladesh produces 7 to 8 million bales of raw jute, out of which 0.6 to 0.8 million bales are exported to international markets. China, India, and Pakistan are the primary importers of Bangladeshi raw jute.


Top ten jute producers, by metric ton, as of 2020 [18]
CountryProduction (Tonnes)
Flag of India.svg  India 1,807,264
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 804,520
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 36,510
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 19,122
Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 10,165
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan 3,677
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 2,656
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 2,276
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1,185
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 342
 World2,688,912

Genome

In 2002, Bangladesh commissioned a consortium of researchers from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) and private software firm DataSoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd., in collaboration with the Centre for Chemical Biology, University of Science Malaysia and University of Hawaii, to research different fibers and hybrid fibers of jute. The draft genome of jute (Corchorus olitorius) was completed. [19]

Uses

Jutes are relatively cheap and versatile fiber and have a wide variety of uses in cordage and cloth. It is commonly used to make burlap sacks.

The jute plant also has some culinary uses, which are generally focused on the leaves.

Due to its durability and biodegradability, jute matting is used as a temporary solution to prevent flood erosion.

Researchers have also investigated the possibility of using jute and glucose to build aeroplane panels. [20]

Fibers

Jute fabric Tessuto iuta.jpg
Jute fabric
Coffee sacks made of jute Coffee sacks.jpg
Coffee sacks made of jute
Jute fiber is extracted from retted stem of jute plants. Jute fibre extraction.jpg
Jute fiber is extracted from retted stem of jute plants.

Individual jute fibers can range from very fine to very coarse, and the varied fibers are suited for a variety of uses.

The coarser fibers, which are called jute butts, are used alone or combined with other fibers to make many products:

Finer jute fibers can be processed for use in:

Jute was historically[ when? ][ where? ] used in traditional textile machinery[ which? ] because jute fibers contain cellulose (vegetable fiber) and lignin (wood fiber).[ further explanation needed ] Later[ when? ], several industries, such as the automotive, pulp and paper, furniture, and bedding industries, started to use jute and its allied[ clarification needed ] fibers with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacture nonwoven fabric, technical textiles, and composites.

Jute is used in the manufacture of fabrics, such as Hessian cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas. Hessian is lighter than sacking, and it is used for bags, wrappers, wall-coverings, upholstery, and home furnishings. Sacking, which is a fabric made of heavy jute fibers, has its use in the name. CBC made of jute comes in two types: primary and secondary. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface, while secondary CBC is bonded onto the primary backing for an overlay. Jute packaging is sometimes used as an environmentally friendly substitute for plastic.

Other jute consumer products include floor coverings, high performance technical textiles, geotextiles, and composites. Jute has been used as a home textile due to its anti-static and color- and light-fast properties, as well as its strength, durability, UV protection, sound and heat insulation, and low thermal conductivity.

Culinary uses

Corchous olitorius leaves are used to make mulukhiya, which is sometimes considered the Egyptian national dish, and is also consumed in Cyprus and other Middle Eastern countries. These leaves are an ingredient in stews, typically cooked with lamb or chicken.

In India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh, in the Bengali cuisine, the fresh leaves are stir fried and eaten as path saak bhaja (পাঠ শাক ভাজা) along with a mustard sauce called kasundi (কাসুন্দি). The leaves are also eaten by making pakoras (পাঠ পাতার বড়া) with rice flour or Gram flour batter.

In Nigeria, leaves of Corchorus olitorius are prepared in sticky soup called ewedu together with ingredients such as sweet potato, dried small fish, or shrimp. [21] The leaves are rubbed until foamy or sticky before they are added to the soup. Among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, the leaves are called Ewedu, and in the Hausa-speaking northern Nigeria, the leaves are called turgunuwa or lallo. The cook shreds the jute leaves adds them to the soup, which generally also contains meat or fish, onions, pepper, and other spices. The Lugbara of Northwestern Uganda also eat jute leaves in a soup called pala bi. Jute is also a totem for Ayivu, one of the Lugbara clans.

In the Philippines, especially in Ilocano-dominated areas, this vegetable, which is locally known as saluyot, can be mixed with bitter gourd, bamboo shoots, loofah, or a combination of these ingredients, which have a slimy and slippery texture.

Vietnamese cuisine also use edible jute known as rau đay. It is usually used in canh cooked with crab and loofah.

In Haiti, a dish called "Lalo" is made with jute leaves and other ingredients. One version of Lalo includes lalo with crab and meat (such as pork or beef) served on a bed of rice.

Environmental impact

Fabrics made of jute fibers are carbon neutral and biodegradable, which make jute a candidate material for high performance technical textiles. [10]

As global concern over forest destruction increases, jute may begin to replace wood as a primary pulp ingredient.

Cultural significance

National symbols

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile</span> Various fiber-based materials

Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslin</span> Cotton fabric of fine plain weave

Muslin is a cotton fabric of plain weave. It is made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers to coarse sheeting. It gets its name from the city of Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenaf</span> Species of flowering plant

Kenaf [etymology: Persian], Hibiscus cannabinus, is a plant in the family Malvaceae also called Deccan hemp and Java jute. Hibiscus cannabinus is in the genus Hibiscus and is native to Africa, though its exact origin is unknown. The name also applies to the fibre obtained from this plant. Kenaf is one of the allied fibres of jute and shows similar characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramie</span> Species of plant

Ramie, Boehmeria nivea, is a flowering plant in the nettle family Urticaceae, native to eastern Asia. It is a herbaceous perennial growing to 1.0–2.5 m tall; the leaves are heart-shaped, 7–15 cm (2.8–5.9 in) long and 6–12 cm (2.4–4.7 in) broad, and white on the underside with dense, small hairs—this gives it a silvery appearance; unlike stinging nettles, the hairs do not sting. The true ramie or China grass is also called Chinese plant or white ramie.

Hemp or industrial hemp is a strain of the Cannabis sativa plant grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products.

<i>Corchorus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the mallow family

Corchorus is a genus of about 40–100 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile industry</span> Industry related to design, production and distribution of textiles.

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Textile manufacturing</span> The industry which produces textiles

Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods such as clothing, household items, upholstery and various industrial products.

The jute trade is centered mainly around India's West Bengal and Assam, and Bangladesh. The major producing country of jute is India and biggest exporter is Bangladesh, due to their natural fertile soil. Production of jute by India and Bangladesh are respectively 1.968 million ton and 1.349 million metric ton. Bengal jute was exported to South East Asia from the 17th century by the Dutch, French and later by other Europeans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hessian fabric</span> Woven fabric from jute or sisal

Hessian, burlap in the United States and Canada, or crocus in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, is a woven fabric made of vegetable fibres, usually the skin of the jute plant or sisal leaves. It is generally used for duties of rough handling, such as making sacks employed to ship farm products and to act as covers for sandbags, and for wrapping tree-root balls. However, this dense woven fabric, historically coarse, more recently is being produced in a refined state, known simply as jute, as an eco-friendly material for bags, rugs, and other products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bast fibre</span> Fibre obtained from the phloem tissues of many plants, used for textiles, rope, and paper

Bast fibre is plant fibre collected from the phloem or bast surrounding the stem of certain dicotyledonous plants. It supports the conductive cells of the phloem and provides strength to the stem. Some of the economically important bast fibres are obtained from herbs cultivated in agriculture, as for instance flax, hemp, or ramie, but bast fibres from wild plants, as stinging nettle, and trees such as lime or linden, willow, oak, wisteria, and mulberry have also been used in the past. Bast fibres are classified as soft fibres, and are flexible. Fibres from monocotyledonous plants, called "leaf fibre", are classified as hard fibres and are stiff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulukhiyah</span> A type of vegetable and ancient Egyptian dish

Mulukhiyah, also known as molokhiyya, melokhiyya, or ewedu, is a type of jute plant and a dish made from the leaves of Corchorus olitorius, commonly known in English as jute, jute leaves, jute mallow, nalta jute, or tossa jute. It is used as a vegetable and is mainly eaten in Egypt, the Levant, Sudan, Cyprus, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. It is called saluyot in the Philippines. Mulukhiyah is rather bitter, and when boiled, the resulting liquid is a thick, highly mucilaginous broth; it is often described as "slimy", rather like cooked okra. Mulukhiyah is generally eaten cooked, not raw, and it is either eaten chopped and sautéed in oil, garlic and cilantro like in Syria or turned into a kind of soup or stew like in Egypt, typically bearing the same name as the vegetable in the local language. Traditionally mulukhiyah is cooked with chicken or at least chicken stock for flavor and is served with white rice, accompanied with lemon or lime.

<i>Corchorus capsularis</i> Species of flowering plant

Corchorus capsularis, commonly known as white jute, is a shrub species in the family Malvaceae. It is one of the sources of jute fibre, considered to be of finer quality than fibre from Corchorus olitorius, the main source of jute. The leaves are used as a foodstuff and the leaves, unripe fruit and the roots are used in traditional medicine.

The manufacture of textiles is one of the oldest of human technologies. To make textiles, the first requirement is a source of fiber from which a yarn can be made, primarily by spinning. The yarn is processed by knitting or weaving, which turns yarn into cloth. The machine used for weaving is the loom. For decoration, the process of colouring yarn or the finished material is dyeing. For more information of the various steps, see textile manufacturing.

<i>Corchorus olitorius</i> Species of flowering plant

Jute mallow or Nalita jute is a species of shrub in the family Malvaceae. Together with C. capsularis it is the primary source of jute fiber. The leaves and young fruits are used as a vegetable, the dried leaves are used for tea and as a soup thickener, and the seeds are edible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finishing (textiles)</span> Manufacturing process

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The textile industry in India, traditionally after agriculture, is the only industry in the country that has generated large-scale employment for both skilled and unskilled labour. The textile industry continues to be the second-largest employment generating sector in India. It offers direct employment to over 35 million people in the country. India is the world's second largest exporter of textiles and clothing, and in the fiscal year 2022, the exports stood at US$ 44.4 billion. According to the Ministry of Textiles, the share of textiles in total exports during April–July 2010 was 11.04%. During 2009–2010, the Indian textile industry was pegged at US$55 billion, 64% of which services domestic demand. In 2010, there were 2,500 textile weaving factories and 4,135 textile finishing factories in all of India. According to AT Kearney’s ‘Retail Apparel Index’, India was ranked as the fourth most promising market for apparel retailers in 2009.

Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslin trade in Bengal</span>

Muslin, a Phuti carpus cotton fabric of plain weave, was historically hand woven in the areas of Dhaka and Sonargaon in Bangladesh and exported for many centuries. The region forms the eastern part of the historic region of Bengal. The muslin trade at one time made the Ganges delta and what is now Bangladesh into one of the most prosperous parts of the world. Of all the unique elements that must come together to manufacture muslin, none is as unique as the cotton, the famous "phuti karpas", scientifically known as Gossypium arboreum var. neglecta. Dhaka muslin was immensely popular and sold across the globe for millennia. Muslin from "India" is mentioned in the book Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, authored by an anonymous Egyptian merchant around 2,000 years ago, it was appreciated by the Ancient Greeks and Romans, and the fabled fabric was the pinnacle of European fashion in the 18th and 19th century. Production ceased sometime in the late 19th century, as the Bengali muslin industry could no longer compete against cheaper British-made textiles.

The jute industry is a historically and culturally important industry in Bangladesh dating back to during the growth of the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent. Despite once being one of the country's biggest industries and major export items, the jute industry has declined since the 1970s. Exports have fallen as other countries grow jute independently, decreasing the demand for jute to be exported, and other products like plastics and hemp find more widespread use.

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Further reading