C5G-INDIAN AGRICULTURE-CASH CROPS-JUTE

JUTE

•Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads.
•Jute, the 'Golden Fiber' as it is called, is a plant that yields a fiber used for sacking and cordage.
•Known as the raw material for sacks the world over, jute is truly one of the most versatile fibers gifted to man by nature that finds various uses in the form of Handicrafts.
•Next to cotton, jute is the cheapest and most important of all textile fibers.

•India – 2nd largest producer after Bangladesh
•Important foreign exchange earner
•Known as ‘brown paper bag of wholesale trade’ – sack cloth,
•Carpets, rugs, tarpaulins, ropes, strings, etc

TEMPERATURE: 24 degree C to 35 degree C
•Requires high relative humidity of 80% to 90%

•RAINFALL: 170 cm to 200 cm, evenly distributed during growing period.

•SOIL: Alluvial soil found in flood plains and deltas
•Grown in sandy and clay loams
•Jute plant depletes the fertility of soil very rapidly, therefore riverbeds are best suited
•That’s why it grows best in the Ganga-Brahamputra delta

METHODS OF FARMING:

Sown by broadcasting, dibbling and drilling methods
•Sown between March to June
•Ready for harvest in about 4 to 6 months when flowers begin to appear. Plants are cut to the ground or uprooted if the ground is flooded.
•Making the jute available from the fields to the mills is labour-intensive.
•Requires large work force



DISTRIBUTION: West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Bihar, chhattisgarh

Fertile land growing for jute

After harvesting, retting is done.
After retting, jute is packed in bales and sent to mills.

LET US REVISE:

a. State the soil and water requirements of Jute. Name the state which is the leading producer of jute.
i) SOIL – sandy, and clayey loams. It grows well on alluvial soils.
WATER REQUIREMENTS : Rainfall of about 170 to 200 cms. It needs plenty of clean and soft water for retting.
ii) Leading producer of jute is West Bengal.

B. Name the most important fibre crop in West Bengal. Describe two geographical conditions which favour the growth of this crop.
Jute is the most important fibre crop of West Bengal.
· RAINFALL: The jute plant needs heavy rainfall of about 170 to 200 cms evenly distributed during the growing period. Continuous drought is damaging to the crop.
· TEMPERATURE: Jute is the crop of hot and humid climate so it needs high temperature varying from 240C to 350C . It also requires high relative humidity.

c. Write any important feature of jute plant covering the following points: i) Height ii) Type iii) Harvesting period.
HEIGHT: The plant grows to a height of 2 m to 4 m.
TYPE: Jute is tropical fibre plant.
HARVESTING PERIOD: The jute plant is ready for harvest in about 4 months to 6 months.

d. Why is jute called the ‘golden fibre’? Why is it also known as the ‘brown paper bag of wholesale trade’?
Jute is known as golden fibre because of its colour and because of its economic importance as it earns foreign exchange.
It is known as ‘brown paper bag of wholesale trade’ because of its wide variety of use in the wholesale market. It is used for making cloth to wrap bales of cotton, gunny bags, ropes, shopping bags, etc.

e. What is retting?
Retting is associated with jute. Retting is a microbiological process which loosens the outer bark and makes it easier to remove fibres from the stalk. Plant is dipped in stagnant water for 2-3 weeks to soften the outer bark in order to remove fibre.

f. What are the geographical conditions necessary for the growth of jute?

· RAINFALL: The jute plant needs heavy rainfall of about 170 to 200 cms evenly distributed during the growing period. Continuous drought is damaging to the crop.
· TEMPERATURE: Jute is the crop of hot and humid climate and so it needs high temperature varying from 240C to 350C . It also requires high relative humidity of 90 percent and above.
· SOIL – It is grown in the areas of new alluvium. Fertile, loamy and well - drained soil is ideal for jute cultivation.
· LABOUR – It is a labour intensive crop. It requires large number of workers in planting, harvesting, and getting fibre. So, densely populated areas like West Bengal are highly suitable for jute.
·
g. What are the different uses of jute in India?
Jute fabric or sack cloth is used for packing several commodities such as rice, wheat, etc. and wool and cotton in bales. It is also used in the manufacture of carpets, rugs, upholstery, ropes, strings and tarpaulins.

h. How is jute sown in India?
Jute is generally sown in February on lowlands and in March to May on highlands. For sowing, broadcasting method is used, i.e. seeds are thrown in shallow furrows. But nowadays, drilling method is being used for sowing jute.

i. How is harvesting of jute done?
After sowing, the jute crop matures in about four to six months. Its harvesting takes place between July and September. The plants are cut close to the ground or they are uprooted by flooding the fields.

j. Describe the processing of jute right from its fields to the mills.
Making of jute is a labour-intensive process which involves the following stages.
i. Harvested plants are left on the fields for two or three days so that their leaves dry up and shed. Then they are made
into bundles.
ii. These bundles of 20 cm to 25cm in diameter are immersed into water for retting and left there for two to three
weeks. This makes the outer bark loose and helps in the removal of the fibre from the stalk. This process is called
retting.
iii. When the retting process is considered complete, ten to twelve reeds are taken out from the stalk of the jute plant
and are beaten with a wooden mallet to loosen the fibre.
iv. The fibre, so obtained, is washed in clean water, wrung and spread out in the sun to dry.
v. Then this dry fibre is made into bundles and sorted according to quality and pressed into bales and transported to
manufacturers.

K. “Irrigation plays very vital role in the cultivation of tobacco.” Give reason.
* Irrigation is required to water the plants.
* Irrigation is also must to remove dust from the leaves.

l. How long does the jute plant take to mature? Name two methods used for harvesting jute plant.
The jute plant is ready for harvesting in about 4 – 6 months.
The plant is cut close to the ground or uprooted if the ground is flooded.

m. A plant X can be used as a substitute for jute. Identify the X and mention any two features.
Or What do you know about Mesta?
Mesta is a coarse fibre which is used as a substitute for jute.
FEATURES- * It is inferior to jute in quality and strength as it has coarse fibre.
· It can tolerate drier conditions, so it can be grown in areas unsuitable for the cultivation of jute.

n. Name an area in India where jute is cultivated widely. Mention why there is a concentration of this crop in the area mentioned by you. OR
‘Which state is the leading producer of jute’? Give any two factors responsible for this.
West Bengal is the leading producer of jute.
· The jute plant needs heavy and evenly distributed rainfall (170 cm – 200 cm) which is found in this region.
· Jute is a soil exhausting plant and grows well on alluvial soil. The Ganga-Brhamaputra delta has alluvial soil and soil is also replenished.

o. Name two jute products .
Sacks and carpets are the two major products.