Cultivation practices of Jute

Introduction

• Jute is a natural fiber with golden and silky shine and hence known as Golden Fibre.
• Scientific Name: Corchorus spp.
• Family: Tiliaceae
• Common Name: Jute

Origin and distribution

❖ Jute has two cultivable species

• Corchorus capsularis – originated from Indo-Burma region.
• Corchorus olitorius – Originated from Africa
❖ Jute is extensively grown in India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan, Mayanmar, and in Nepal.
❖ 90% of world jute comes from India and Bangladesh.
❖ In Nepal, it is cultivated in Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Siraha and Dhanusha district.
Importance and uses

• Jute is considered as an industrial crop because it produces raw material for industry.

• Jute fibre is used in manufacturing gunny bags, coarse cloth, carpet etc.
• .
• Leaves of Jute have medicinal Properties.
Soil requirements
• Jute can be cultivated on all kinds of soil from clay to sandy loam but loamy soils are most favorable for it.
• Usually sandy and heavy clay soils are not suitable for jute cultivation.
• Jute can tolerate a pH ranging from 5.0 to 8.6, but thrives best in the normal soil reaction i.e., pH 6 to 7.5.

Climatic requirements

Temperature
• Jute is a typical plant of sub-tropics. It is highly responsive to temperature.
• Temperature of 25 to 350C is found to be best for growth and formation of reproductive organs as well as for blossoming.

Rainfall
• The minimum rainfall required for jute cultivation is 100 cm per year.
• The crop can be cultivated in the dry tropic and subtropics only under irrigation.
• The jute plants are sensitive to high moisture levels during intensive growth and maturation.

Light
• Both species are typical short-day plant.
• C. olitorius is more responsive to short light period than C. capsularis.
Cropping Pattern

Under Irrigated Condition:

Jute-Rice-Wheat
Jute-Rice-Barley
Jute-Rice-Potato
Jute-Rice-Mustard

Under Rainfed Condition:

Jute-Rice-Lentil
Jute-Wheat or Barley
Jute-Mustard

Varieties
For Eastern Terai: Itahari-1, Itahari-2
Manure and Fertilizer Management

• Five ton of well decomposed farm yard manure per hectare should be applied during last ploughing.
• Recommended doses for olitorius is 30:15:30 kg NPK/ha and capsularis is 40:20:40 kg NPK/ha.
• The full dose of P and K and 1/3 part of N should be applied as basal application whereas the remaining two
doses of N should be topdressed.

Land Preparation
• The jute seeds are small in size and are sown at a shallower depth.
• Thus, it requires a clean, clod free field with fine tilth for its successful establishment.
• To fulfill this requirement, field is ploughed and cross harrowed 5-6 times followed by planking.
• In Nepal, the field is ploughed 3-4times with local plough and then leveled for sowing.

Seed Rate
• For line sowing: 6-8kg/ha for white jute and 4-5kg/ha for tossa jute.

Sowing Time
• Optimum time for white is March-April.
• Optimum for Tossa jute is April-May.
Sowing Methods

• Line sowing is common in Jute.

• Drilling: The sowing of jute in line is done with seed drill.
• Broadcasting: seeds are first mixed with loose soil and sowing is carried out in cross-wise direction in order to
ensure even distribution of seeds and uniform plant stand. After sowing, planking is done to cover the seeds and
bring them in close contact with moist soil which promotes germination.

Sowing depth

• 2-3 cm to 5 cm.

Spacing

• For white jute: (30×5) cm

• For tossa jute: (20×5) cm
Irrigation/ water management
• Jute yields higher under irrigated conditions but is negatively influenced by water logging.
• Critical stages for moisture are germination and knee-high stage.
• Capsularis jute shows more tolerance to drought condition than Olitorius.
• In irrigated conditions, jute would require three to four irrigations, i.e. before sowing, branching, flowering, and
at pod formation stages.

Weed Management
• Critical stages of weed-crop competition is up to 20-35 DAS.
• In well-drained soil, mulching with rice straw @ 10 tons/ha reduces weed by 75%.
• Soil solarization by black polythene reduces weeds by 50%.
• 1st weeding at 15-20 DAS along with thinning to maintain 3-4 cm between plants and 2nd weeding at 35-40
DAS along with thinning is considered best.
• Application of Butachlor 50% EC @ 1 to 1.5 kg ai/ha during jute sowing or within 48 hrs of jute sowing
followed by one hand weeding/wheel hoeing has also been found effective.

Harvesting
• Jute can be harvested at any time from 90 DAS to maturity.
• Early Harvest: Provides low yield, and immature fibres.
• Delay Harvest: Delay in harvesting, when the seeds are matured, results in high yield of coarse and poor quality
fibres.
Fibre Extraction:

The jute plants fibers lies beneath the bark and surrounded the woody central part of the stem ( secondary
Phloem).

1. Bundle stalk
2. Retting
3. Stripping
4. Washing
5. Sun dry
6. Packing
7. Storage
Retting:
Retting is a process by which the fibres in the bark get loosened and separated from the wooded
Stalk.
• The bundles are steeped in water at least 60 -100 cm depth.
• Due to microbes activity stem pectin, gum and other mucilage substance start dissolving.
• Retting process done for 10-30 days.
• Retting process depend upon maturity of crop, depth of water and temperature

Stripping
It is the process of removing fibre from the stalk after completion of retting.

Washing and drying:

Extracted fibres are washed in clean water.
After squeezing excess water the fibre are hand on bamboo railing for sun drying for 2-3 days.
Quality parameters of good fibre

• Length of Fibre: If the length of the entire fibre is more, more is the quality

• Colour of the Fibre: Bright Colour is superior.

• Luster of the Fibre: Bright fibre of smooth surface will have superior luster.

• Stiffness and Hardness: Properly retted fibre will be soft and fine.

• Fitness of Fibre: Coarse fibre always fetches low price than fine fibre.

• Percentage of Cuttings of Stem or Percentage of Cutting of Fibre: Less the number of cuttings, More the
Superiority of fibre.

• Proportion of faulty materials: Roots, Specks, Knots, Runners should be avoided for good Quality.
Pests

❖ Jute hairy caterpillar

Control:
• Spray with Deltamethrin or cypermethrin @ 1 ml or Malathion @ 2 ml
per liter of water

❖ Jute semilooper
Control:
• Destroy the pest affected leaves.
• Spray with malathion @ 1 ml per liter of water

❖ Girdling Beetle
Control:
• Spray with Dimethoate @ 1.25 ml per liter of water.

❖ Red mite
Control:
• Spray with dicofol @ 2.25 ml per liter of water
Corchorus capsularis ( White) Corchorus olitorius ( Tossa )

Originated from India Burma region Originated from African region.

It is herbaceous annual with slender and It has cylindrical stem and grows upto a
straight stem and grow to a height of 1.5 to height of 5m.
4m.

Pods are round in shape. Pods are elongated.

Seed rate: 6-8 kg/ha Seed rate: 4-5 kg/ha,

Spacing : 30*5 cm Spacing : 20*5

Fertilizer requirement is high Fertilizer requirement is low.