HARVESTING, PROCESSING AND MARKETING STRATEGIES OF JUTE FIBRE (CORHORUS OLITORUS)


HARVESTING
            Jute mallow is harvested 30Aca –aCoe60 days planting, depending on variety. Some varieties are sensitive to short day length, causing them to bloom prematurely. These varieties should be harvested 20Aca, -aCoe 40 days after planting, just before pods develop. Plants may be harvested once or several times. Once-over harvest is adapted for quick growing varieties. Whole plant (20Aca,-aCae30 cm tall) are pulled from soil with roots, washed and tied in bundles. With multiple harvests, young leaves and shoots are picked every two to three weeks.
New side shoots will develop and harvesting can be repeated three or four times. Frequent harvesting delays flowering and prolongs the harvest period. Jute mallow wilts rapidly after harvest. Harvest should be done during the cooler time of the day, such as early morning or late afternoon, and keep the produce cool and shaded. Jute harvested in Bangladesh are the strongest in the world as well as richest in color.  Jute is also harvested in some other places in the world like India, china, Thailand , Brazil, Spain and Australia to some extents. Being environmental friendly jute products are very much popular.

PROCESSING  
            Jute plants grow 2-3 m in height with a 1-2 cm diameter stalk. Jute is harvested in the rainy season in Bangladesh and grows best in a warm and humid climate. Jute plants are cut and composed first into water and then extracted from the stalk for drying and further processing to make various jute products like jute yarn and twine, jute Hessian/burlap cloths and bags, jute sacking cloths for jute sacks and bags, gunny bags, carpet backing cloths, jute mesh, geo-textiles, scrim fabrics for soil erosion control, carpets, rugs and other diversified modern jute goods like espadrille shoes, fashion bags etc. jute sacks are very popular worldwide for packaging agriculture commodities like rice, wheat, corn, coffee, cocoa beans and other grains. Food grade jute bags for packing sugar, salt, flour etc. are also available. Cement bags and D. W. Nitrate bags have its own popularity. Bangle white and bangle Tossa are two main category of raw jute. Each category has sub-categories graded by quality of raw jute.
          Farmers cut the flowering stems down, dry them under the sun and then soak them in flowering water to loosen the bark and dissolve the gum that holds the woody fibers together. This processing is called retting. The fiber is then extracted by hand. The fiber in jute are uneven in diameter and are highly resistant to stretching but individually brittle. So they develop microscopic fractures during the weaving process. This two factors give jute its natural and slightly rough appearance. Jute is the major item in the world’s commodity markets and the finer grades can be seen in fashion, luggage and home furnishing. It is also known as Hessian and burlap.

MARKETING STRATEGIES    
            Jute mallow wilts rapidly, common practice in markets and shops is to sprinkle with water to keep its fresh appearance. If uprooted, the vegetables can be kept fresh for some days by putting it into basin with the roots in the water and sold in bunches or by weight.

REFERENCES
·     Basu, G, A. K. Sinha, and S. N. Chatopadhyay. “Properties of Jute Based Ternary Blended Bulked Yarns” Man-Made Textiles in India. Vol. 48, no. 9 (Sep. 2005) 350-353. (AN 18605324)

·     Chattopadhyay, S. N., N. C. Pan, and A. Day “A Novel Process of Dyeing of Jute Fabric Using Reactive Dye”. Textile Industry of India. Vol. 42, no. 9 (Sep 2004): 15-22. (AN 17093709)

·     Doraiswamy, I., A. Basu, and  K. P. Chellamani. “Development of Fine Quality Jute Fibres”. Colourage Nov. 6-8 1998, 2p (AN TDH0624047199903296)

·     Kozlowski, R., and S. Manys. “Green Fibres”. The Textile Institute. Textile Industry: Winning Strategies for the New Millennium-Papers presented at the World Conference. Feb 10-13 1999:29 (13p). (AN TDH064634200106392)  

·     Madhu, T. “Bio-Composites –An Overview”. Textile Magazine. Vol. 43, no.8 (June 2002):

·     Maulik, S. R. “Chemical Modification of Jute”. Asian Textile Journal. Volume 10, no. 7 (Jul. 2001):  

·     Moses, J. Jeyakodi, and M. Ramasamy. “Quality Improvement on Jute and Jute Cotton Materials Using Enzyme Treatment and Natural Dyeing”. Man-Made Textiles in India. Vol. 47, no 7 (Jul. 2004): 252-255. (AN 14075527)

·     Pan, N. C., S. N. Chattopadhyay, and A. Day “Dyeing of Jute Fabric with Natural Dye Extracted from Marigold Flower”. Asian Textile Journal. Vol. 13, no. 7 (Jul. 2004): 80-82. (AN 15081016)

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