Jute is the fabric thread of the future. This is probably the most bio-degradable of all manner of fabric in use today and there is more to the story of jute than in fact meets the eye.
Less than 30 years ago, jute was the traditional containers industry fiber and this stayed so for a long time. Various categories of plastic extrusion came into the photo to seal off the 'gunny bags' as jute sacks were called. Plastic was stronger, more durable and seals off spillage. These were advantages that bulk carriers were very curious in when the cargo was food grain or fertilizers or cement and such. The age of the humble 'gunny bag' was over.
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Jute survived, though, because the Indian and Bangladeshi governments (the jute centers of the world) decided that it had to keep this industry running because of the subsistence level workers who were involved. The industry limped on government grants and subsidies and one waited to see its natural death.
Then came the ecological disasters of the last century. Plastic was soon to come to be history, one knew, and natural fibre was set to replace it. Jute was one very obvious, renewable, safe and green choice. The industry had, meanwhile, been mostly privatized, and there was adequate scope for the industry to leapfrog into the frontline of green action.
There was a problem, however. When the British left their colonies, They divided India into politically problematic zones. Pakistan was carved out of two zones at two ends of India because Islam was the predominantly religion in those areas. East Pakistan became Bangladesh (in the 1971 war).
What happened in the process was that the huge jute cultivation zones remained in Bangladesh, while the jute mills were in India. It was an awful mess.
Today, though several areas in India are under jute cultivation and jute is also imported from Bangladesh to make ended products. Hence the output capacity isn't in fact going straight through the roof quickly. But the potential of jute has undergone several changes and, to an extent, it can now compete in the chic world of couture. It can also contribute the most needed substitute to plastic bags.
Jute is the big hereafter of green protagonists. Look out for the stuff.
Jute - The Fiber of the hereafterTags : todays world news headlines
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