How to Cultivate Jute

Jute grows very well in the fertile plain lands originated by the siltation of the Brahmaputra, the Jamuna, the Meghna etc. rivers in Bangladesh. Besides Bangladesh, jute grows in India, China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Egypt and Brazil etc. Jute industries have been developed in Bangladesh based on the jute production.

Land selection: The fertile loamy soil is the most suitable for jute cultivation. But jute can be cultivated in all types of land except sandy and clayey soil. The land in which silt is deposited at the later period of rainy season is suitable for jute cultivation. Tosha jute can be cultivated in high land and deshi jute in both high and low land.

Jute varieties suitable for cultivation: Each crop has such types of varieties, which have yielding ability, environmental suitability, resistant to insects and diseases, morphological features (size, shape, color), nutritional quality, food value, processing etc. qualities. But it is not possible to manipulate all the characters in optimum level in the same variety. After establishment, till date the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) has developed and released 17 deshi jute, 16 tosha jute, 2 kenaf 1mesta varieties.

Varieties of deshi jute: CVL 1 (Ggreen jute), CVE- 3 (Ashu jute), CC- 45 (Jeo jute), D- 154, Atom pat- 38 etc. are the varieties of deshi jute.

Varieties of tosha jute: O- 4, O- 9897 (Falguni tosha), CG (Chin sura green) etc. are the varieties of tosha jute.

Varieties of kenaf: HC- 2 (Joli kenaf), AEC- 95.

Variety of mesta: HC- 24 (Tani mesta).

Land preparation: Just after one or two shower of rain in the month of March April, the jute field should be ploughed. Land should be ploughed just after harvesting of rabi crops. The land should be leveled after breaking clods by 5- 6 ploughings followed by laddering�s. The soil should be well pulverized and the weeds or the roots of the previous crops should be uprooted as the jute seeds are small. Otherwise, the seed germination and emergence will not be expected.

Fertilizer application: Jute yield can be easily increased by applying appropriate amount of fertilizer at appropriate time. If applied at appropriate time, the lower amount of chemical fertilizer is required. But if there is no lack of zinc and sulfur in soil, it is not necessary to apply gypsum or zinc sulfate.

Fertilizer application after 6-7 weeks of seed sowing: At first land should be made weed free with the help of nirani. Then, 50 kg urea per hectare should be applied for all jute varieties except O-9897 and 100 kg urea for O- 9897. This fertilizer should be mixed with some dry soil and should be broadcasted, thereafter; fertilizer should be mixed with soil with the help of �hoe� or nirani. It should be noted during second time urea application that the applied fertilizer does not come in contact with young leaves and twigs. Soil should have sufficient moisture content during fertilizer application.

Seed treatment: It is better to treat seed before seed sowing. Seed treatment should be done by mixing 20 g Agrosan GN or Captan 75% per kg seed.

Time of seed sowing: If jute seeds are not sown in proper time, plants flower untimely; yield is reduced and fiber quality of jute is deteriorated. Depending on the variety, jute seed can be sown from 15 February to mid-April.

Methods of seed sowing and seed rate: Jute seeds can be sown in rows or by broadcasting. If sown in rows, requires lower amount of seed. The distance between rows should be 25- 30 cm and between seed in rows should be 7- 10 cm. If broadcast, higher amount of seed is required. It should be noted that seeds are not sown in much depth. The seeds should be sown when there is �Jo� condition in soil.

Thinning and weeding: The week seedlings from densely populated seedlings should be removed after 15- 20 days of seed sowing simultaneous with weeding. After 35- 40 days of sowing 2nd and after 45- 50 days of sowing 3rd time weeding should be done simultaneous with soil loosening.
Irrigation and drainage: From the jute field, irrigation water should be supplied at drought condition and excess water should be drained out at water stagnant condition.

Cutting of jute and making bundles: The quality and yield both are reduced if jute is not cut at proper time. Generally, deshi jute is cut in the month of Ashar- Shrabon and tosha jute is cut in the month of Shrabon- Bhadra. The proper time of jute cutting is when the plants are in flower. The cut plants are tied into bundles of about 10 kg just after jute cutting. After making bundles, these are kept in field for 3- 4 days, thereby the leaves become shaded. The leaves should be speeded in the field as the jute leaves are good manures.

Jute rafting:
At first 10- 15 jute bundles are arranged on water keeping the base of the plant at the same direction; thereafter some other jute plant bundles are arranged by keeping the base at the opposite direction of the previous bundles. This is called the jute raft. Care should be taken that 30 cm water remains above the raft and 60 cm below the raft. Broadcasting 1 kg urea per 100 bundles of jute plants accelerates jute rotting and improves the quality of jute fiber. The clean water of bills, canal or rivers having low current is the most suitable for jute rafting.

For steeping of jute raft, soil clods, banana plants, mango plants etc. should not be used. Because these make the fiber color black. The jute raft is steeped in water by tying with the bamboo stick or by pressing with stones. To cover the raft, water hyacinth, straw can be used.

Determining time of jute rotting:
The jute rotting should be examined from 10- 11 days after steeping of jute raft. Generally, 4- 5 jute plants are pulled out from the raft. If the fiber from these plants can easily be separated, then it indicates the completion of jute rotting. The jute rotting is completed within 12- 14 days in worm weather and within 20-25 days in cool weather.

Separation and cleaning of fiber: Fiber can be separated from the plants by two ways after rotting. Such as-

1. The each bundle is lifted above the water and kept in dry place. The fiber from each plant is separated by sitting on the dry place. Thereafter fiber separated from some plants are tied together and washed in water.
2. By standing in knee or water, the base of the jute plants are bitten with the hammer. Then the fiber of the base are rolled with hand are separated by pushing it front- behind direction parallel with water. Thereafter, the fibers are washed and tied into bundles.

Drying and preservation of fiber: The bamboo made aryl is used to dry jute fiber under high intensity sunlight. If the fiber is dried little, the fiber remain the decomposition of jute fiber is started. This decreases the quality of jute fiber. Therefore, jute should be properly dried and be stored by making bundles.

Yield: Yield varies with the variety. The yield of deshi jute is slightly higher than that of tosha jute.