
Bundles of jute, showing the fibres of
Corchorus olitorius (tossa jute fibre) and
Corchorus
capsularis (white jute fibre)

Jute plants (
Corchorus
olitorius and
Corchorus capsularis)
Jute is a long, soft, shiny
vegetable fibre that can be spun into
coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus
Corchorus, family
Tiliaceae.
Jute is one of the cheapest
natural
fibres and is second only to
cotton in
amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibres are composed
primarily of the plant materials
cellulose
(major component of plant fibre) and
lignin
(major components of wood fibre). It is thus a ligno-cellulosic
fibre that is partially a textile fibre and partially wood. It
falls into the
bast fibre category (fibre
collected from bast or skin of the plant) along with
kenaf,
industrial hemp,
flax (
linen),
ramie, etc. The industrial term for jute fibre is
raw jute. The fibres are off-white to brown, and 1–4
meters (3–12 feet) long.
Jute fibre is often called
hessian;
jute fabrics are also called hessian cloth and jute sacks are
called gunny bags in some European countries. The fabric made from
jute is popularly known as
burlap in
North America.
Cultivation
Jute, a japanese flute, needs a plain alluvial soil and standing
water. The suitable climate for growing jute (warm and wet climate)
is offered by the
monsoon climate during the
monsoon season. Temperatures from 20˚ C to 40˚ C and relative
humidity of 70%–80% are favourable for successful cultivation. Jute
requires 5–8 cm of rainfall weekly and more during the sowing
period.
White jute (Corchorus capsularis)
Several
historical documents (especially, Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal in 1590) during the era of
Mughal Emperor Akbar
(1542–1605) state that the poor villagers of India
used to wear
clothes made of jute. Simple handlooms and hand spinning
wheels were used by the weavers, who used to spin cotton yarns as
well. History also states that Indians, especially
Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white
jute from ancient times for household and other uses.
Tossa jute (Corchorus olitorius)
Tossa jute (
Corchorus
olitorius) is an Afro-Arabian variety. It is quite popular
for its leaves that are used as an ingredient in a mucilaginous
potherb called
molokhiya
(
ملوخية a word
of uncertain etymology), popular in certain
Arab countries. The
Book of
Job in the
Hebrew Bible mentions
this vegetable potherb as
Jew's mallow.
Tossa jute fibre is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute.
This variety astonishingly showed good sustainability in the
climate of the
Ganges Delta.
Along with
white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil of
Bengal
where it is known as paat from the start
of the 19th century. Currently, the Bengal region (West Bengal
, India, and Bangladesh
) is the largest global producer of the tossa jute
variety.
History
For
centuries, jute has been an integral part of Bengali culture, which is shared by both
Bangladesh
and West
Bengal
of India. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much
of the raw jute fibre of Bengal was exported to the United Kingdom
, where it was then processed in mills concentrated
in Dundee
.
Initially, due to its texture, it could only be processed by hand
until it was discovered in that city that treating it with
whale oil, it could be treated by machine
[42846]. The industry boomed ("jute weaver" was
a recognised trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this
trade had largely ceased by about 1970 due to the appearance of
synthetic fibres.
Margaret Donnelly, a jute mill landowner in Dundee in the 1800s,
set up the first jute mills in India.
In the 1950s and
1960s, when nylon and polythene were rarely used, Pakistan
, then the
world leader in jute products, was earning exchange from jute grown
in East Pakistan, now
Bangladesh. It was called the "Golden Fibre of Bangladesh,"
and it used to bring the major portion of foreign currency reserve
for the country. However, as the use of polythene and other
synthetic materials as a substitute for jute increasingly captured
the market, the jute industry in general experienced a
decline.
During some years in the 1980s, farmers in Bangladesh burnt their
jute crops when an adequate price could not be obtained. Many
exporters that were dealing with jute found other commodities in
which to deal. Jute-related organisations and government bodies
also experienced closures, change, and fund cutting. The long
decline in demand forced the largest jute mill in the world
(
Adamjee Jute Mills) to close.
Latif Bawany Jute Mills, the
second largest, is still running but was nationalized by the
government from prominent businessman, Yahya Bawany. Farmers in
Bangladesh have not completely ceased growing jute, however, mainly
due to demand in the internal market. Recently (2004–2009), the
jute market began to recover and the price of raw jute increased
more than 200%.
Jute has entered many diverse sectors of industry, where natural
fibres are gradually becoming better substitutes. Among these
industries are
paper,
celluloid products (films),
non-woven textiles,
composites (
pseudo-wood), and
geotextiles.
In December 2006 the General Assembly of the United Nations
proclaimed 2009 to be the
International Year of
Natural Fibres, so as to raise the profile of jute and other
natural fibres.
Description

Jute matting being used to prevent
flood erosion while natural vegetation becomes established.
For this purpose, a natural and biodegradable fibre is
essential.
Production
Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or
pesticides.
The production is concentrated in India
and Bangladesh
. The jute fibre comes from the stem and
ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant. The fibres are first
extracted by retting. The retting process consists of bundling jute
stems together and immersing them in low, running water. There are
two types of retting: stem and ribbon. After the retting process,
stripping begins. Women and children usually do this job. In the
stripping process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the
workers dig in and grab the fibres from within the jute stem.
India
with overall
of ~66% of worlds production tops the production of jute.
Bangladesh
with ~25% lies at second position followed way
behind by China
with
~3%.
Uses

Frozen jute (saluyot) leaves sold at a
Los Angelesss market
Jute is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton; not
only for cultivation, but also for various uses. Jute is used
chiefly to make
cloth for wrapping bales of
raw cotton, and to make
sacks and coarse cloth.
The fibres are also woven into
curtains,
chair coverings,
carpets, area rugs, hessian cloth, and backing for
linoleum.
While jute is being replaced by synthetic materials in many of
these uses, some uses take advantage of jute's
biodegradable nature, where synthetics would
be unsuitable. Examples of such uses include containers for
planting young trees which can be planted directly with the
container without disturbing the roots, and land restoration where
jute cloth prevents erosion occurring while natural vegetation
becomes established.
The fibres are used alone or blended with other types of fibres to
make
twine and
rope. Jute
butts, the coarse ends of the plants, are used to make inexpensive
cloth. Conversely, very fine threads of jute can be separated out
and made into
imitation silk. As jute fibres are also
being used to make pulp and paper, and with increasing concern over
forest destruction for the
wood pulp used
to make most paper, the importance of jute for this purpose may
increase. Jute has a long history of use in the sackings, carpets,
wrapping fabrics (cotton bale), and construction fabric
manufacturing industry.
Traditionally jute was used in traditional textile machineries as
textile fibres having cellulose (vegetable fibre content) and
lignin (wood fibre content). But, the major
breakthrough came when the automobile, pulp and paper, and the
furniture and bedding industries started to use jute and its allied
fibres with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacture
nonwovens,
technical textiles,
and composites. Therefore, jute has changed its textile fibre
outlook and steadily heading towards its newer identity, i.e. wood
fibre. As a textile fibre, jute has reached its peak from where
there is no hope of progress, but as a wood fibre jute has many
promising features.
Jute can be used to create a number of fabrics such as Hessian
cloth, sacking, scrim, carpet backing cloth (CBC), and canvas.
Hessian, lighter than sacking, is used for bags, wrappers,
wall-coverings, upholstery, and home furnishings. Sacking, a fabric
made of heavy jute fibres, has its use in the name. CBC made of
jute comes in two types. Primary CBC provides a tufting surface,
while secondary CBC is bonded onto the primary backing for an
overlay. Jute packaging is used as an eco-friendly
substitute.
Diversified jute products are becoming more and more valuable to
the consumer today. Among these are
espadrilles, floor coverings, home textiles,
high performance technical textiles, Geotextiles, composites, and
more.
Jute Bags
Jute bags are used for making fashion bags & promotional bags.
The eco-friendly nature of jute make its ideal for corporate
gifting.
Jute floor coverings consist of woven and tufted
and piled carpets. Jute Mats and mattings with 5 / 6 mts width and
of continuous length are easilly being woven in Southern parts of
India, in solid and fancy shades, and in different weaves like,
Boucle, Panama, Herringbone, etc. Jute Mats & Rugs are made
both through Powerloom & Handloom, in large volume from Kerala,
India. The traditional Satranji mat is becoming very popular in
home décor. Jute non-wovens and composites can be used for
underlay, linoleum substrate, and more.
Jute has many advantages as a home textile, either replacing cotton
or blending with it. It is a strong, durable, color and light-fast
fibre. Its UV protection, sound and heat insulation, low thermal
conduction and anti-static properties make it a wise choice in home
décor. Also, fabrics made of jute fibres are carbon-dioxide neutral
and naturally decomposable. These properties are also why jute can
be used in high performance technical textiles .
Moreover, jute can be grown in 4–6 months with a huge amount of
cellulose being produced from the jute hurd (inner woody core or
parenchyma of the jute stem) that can
meet most of the wood needs of the world. Jute is the major crop
among others that is able to protect deforestation by
industrialisation.
Thus, jute is the most environment-friendly fibre starting from the
seed to expired fibre, as the expired fibres can be recycled more
than once.
Jute is also used in the making of ghillie suits which are used as
camouflage and resemble grasses or brush.
Another diversified jute product is Geotextiles, which made this
agricultural commodity more popular in the agricultural sector. It
is a lightly woven fabric made from natural fibres that is used for
soil erosion control, seed protection, weed control, and many other
agricultural and
landscaping uses. The
Geotextiles can be used more than a year and the bio-degradable
jute Geotextile left to rot on the ground keeps the ground cool and
is able to make the land more fertile. Methods such as this could
be used to transfer the fertility of the Ganges Delta to the
deserts of
Sahara or
Australia .
Food
Jute leaves are consumed in various parts of the world. It is a
popular vegetable in
West Africa.
The
Yoruba of Nigeria
call it
"ewedu" and the Songhay of Mali
call it
"fakohoy." It is made into a common mucilaginous (somewhat "slimy") soup or sauce in
some West African cooking traditions, as well as in Egypt
, where it is
called mulukhiyya and is often considered
the national dish. It is also a
popular dish in the northern provinces of the Philippines, where it
is known as
saluyot. Jute leaves
are also consumed among the Luyhia people of Western Kenya, where
it is commonly known as 'mrenda' or 'murere'. It is eaten with
'
ugali', which is also a staple for most
communities in Kenya. The leaves are rich in
betacarotene,
iron,
calcium, and
Vitamin
C. The plant has an
antioxidant
activity with a significant α-
tocopherol
equivalent
Vitamin E.
Other
Diversified byproducts which can be cultivated from jute include
uses in cosmetics, medicine, paints, and other products.
Features
- Jute fibre is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus
environmentally friendly.
- It is a natural fibre with golden and silky shine and hence
called The Golden Fibre.
- It is the cheapest vegetable fibre procured from the bast or
skin of the plant's stem.
- It is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton,
in terms of usage, global consumption, production, and
availability.
- It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breathability of fabrics. Therefore, jute
is very suitable in agricultural commodity bulk packaging.
- It helps to make best quality industrial yarn, fabric, net, and
sacks. It is one of the most versatile natural fibres that has been
used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile,
construction, and agricultural sectors. Bulking of yarn results in a reduced breaking tenacity and an
increased breaking extensibility when blended as a ternary
blend.
- Unlike the hemp fiber, jute is not a form
of cannabis.
- The best source of jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plain
in the Ganges Delta, most of which is occupied by Bangladesh.
- Advantages of jute include good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having
low thermal conductivity and a
moderate moisture regain. Other
advantages of jute include acoustic
insulating properties and manufacture with no skin irritations.
- Jute has the ability to be blended with other fibres, both
synthetic and natural, and accepts cellulosic dye classes such as natural,
basic, vat,
sulfur, reactive, and pigment
dyes. As the demand for natural comfort fibres increases, the
demand for jute and other natural fibres that can be blended with
cotton will increase. To meet this demand, it has been suggested
that the natural fibre industry adopt the Rieter's Elitex system, in
order to modernize processing. The resulting jute/cotton yarns will
produce fabrics with a reduced cost of wet processing treatments.
Jute can also be blended with wool. By treating jute with caustic soda, crimp, softness, pliability, and
appearance is improved, aiding in its ability to be spun with wool.
Liquid ammonia has a similar effect on jute,
as well as the added characteristic of improving flame resistance
when treated with flameproofing
agents.
- Some noted disadvantages include poor drapability and crease
resistance, brittleness, fibre shedding,
and yellowing in sunlight. However, preparation of fabrics with
castor oil lubricants result in less yellowing and less
fabric weight loss, as well as increased dyeing brilliance. Jute
has a decreased strength when wet, and also becomes subject to
microbial attack in humid climates.
Jute can be processed with an enzyme in order
to reduce some of its brittleness and stiffness. Once treated with
an enzyme, jute shows an affinity to readily accept natural dyes,
which can be made from marigold flower
extract. In one attempt to dye jute fabric with this extract,
bleached fabric was mordanted with ferrous sulphate, increasing the fabric's
dye uptake value. Jute also responds well to reactive dyeing. This process is used for
bright and fast coloured value-added diversified products made from
jute.
See also
References
Notes
- Basu, G., A. K. Sinha, and S. N. Chattopadhyay. "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 TDH0646343200106392)
- Madhu, T. "Bio-Composites—An Overview". Textile
Magazine. Vol. 43, no. 8 (Jun. 2002): 49 (2 pp). (AN
TDH0656367200206816)
- Maulik, S. R. "Chemical Modification of Jute". Asian
Textile Journal. Vol. 10, no. 7 (Jul. 2001): 99 (8 pp). (AN
TDH0648424200108473)
- 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)
- Pan, N. C., A. Day, and K. K. Mahalanabis. "Properties of
Jute". Indian Textile Journal. Vol. 110, no. 5 (Feb.
2000): 16. (AN TDH0635236200004885)
- Roy, T. K. G., S. K. Chatterjee, and B. D. Gupta. "Comparative
Studies on Bleaching and Dyeing of Jute after Processing with
Mineral Oil in Water Emulsion vis-a-vis Self-Emulsifiable Castor
Oil". Colourage. Vol. 49, no. 8 (Aug. 2002): 27 (5 pp).
(AN TDH0657901200208350)
- Shenai, V. A. "Enzyme Treatment". Indian Textile
Journal. Vol. 114, no. 2 (Nov. 2003): 112–113. (AN
13153355)
- Srinivasan, J., A. Venkatachalam, and P. Radhakrishnan.
"Small-Scale Jute Spinning: An Analysis". Textile
Magazine. Vol. 40, no. 4 (Feb. 1999): 29.
(ANTDH0624005199903254)
- Vijayakumar, K. A., and P. R. Raajendraa. "A New Method to
Determine the Proportion of Jute in a Jute/Cotton Blend". Asian
Textile Journal, Vol. 14, no. 5 (May 2005): 70-72. (AN
18137355)
External links
- International Jute Study Group (IJSG) Resources about
jute, kenaf and roselle plants.
- Department of Horticulture & Landscape
Architecture, Purdue University Some chemistry and medicinal
information on tossa jute.
- For entrepreneurs interested in searching for Jute related
articles and Jute related Video Links and Jute products suppliers
& Jute Showroom details, may visit this Blog at
http://www.indianjute.blogspot.com/
- Jute fabric could be used for industrial applications as
composites reinforcement in sandwich design for automotive or
building market. The sandwich technology using jute fabric could be
viewed on http://daifa.fr/index.php?Page=71 at §4. DAIFA have reach
a leading position to supply jute fabric on the European
market.
- Bangladeshi Ministry of Jute and Textile (Jute
Division). The ministry in Bangladesh directly concerned with
jute.
- Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI). The
Institute in Bangladesh dedicated to jute research.
- National
Institute of Research on Jute And Allied Fibre Technology (NIRJAFT)
under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- International
Jute Study Group (IJSG). A UN collaboration for learning
various aspects of jute and kenaf. Its headquarter is located in Dhaka
,
Bangladesh.
- Jute
Manufactures Development Council (JMDC) A promotional body under
the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, for Jute and Jute
Diversified products, with its Head Office at Kolkata and Regional
Offices at Delhi, Chennai & Hyderabad
- O/o The
Jute Commissioner, directly under the Ministry of Textiles,
Government of India, is an advisory body to the Government and the
Indian Jute industry, on all matters relating to the development of
Indian Jute industry and to implement the Government policies.
The Jute
Commissioner's Office is primarily a regulatory body which
determines Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for raw jute based on CACP
notification, handles monthly fixation of B-Twill prices and is
responsible for monthly fixation of B-Twill prices based upon
Tariff Commission formulae. It also supervises
the implementation of the Jute Technology Mission (Mini Missions II
& IV )
- Institute of
Jute Technology, Kolkata, India. An institute for advanced
research on jute and allied fibres.
- Jute has a major part in the International Year of
Natural Fibres 2009