The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister has approved reservation norms for mandatory use of jute in packaging for the Jute Year 2023 -24 (1st July, 2023 to 30th June, 2024) on 8th December, 2023.
The Mandatory packaging norms approved for Jute Year 2023-24 provide for 100% reservation of the foodgrains and 20% of sugar to be compulsorily packed in jute bags.
The reservations norms under the JPM Act provide for direct employment to 4 lakh workers and 40 lakh farmers in the Jute Sector. JPM Act, 1987 protects interest of Jute farmers, workers and persons engaged in jute goods’ production
Jute is a natural vegetable fiber under the category of bast fibers like flax, hemp, kenaf and ramie. Since ancient times, it has been traditionally grown in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent, which make up the present-day West Bengal of India and plains of Bangladesh.
Jute is an annually renewable plant belonging to the genus Corchorus of the order Tiliacea. Normally, two species viz. Corchorus Olitorious and Corchorus capsularis, commonly known as Tossa and White jute respectively, are produced on a commercial scale. Another bast fiber crop commonly known as Mesta has two cultivated species – Hibiscus cannabinus and Hibiscus Sabdariffa.
The word jute was first published by Roxburg, the then Superintendent of Botanical Garden, Shibpur, West Bengal in the year 1795, in his letter addressed to the Board of Directors of East India Company. The first jute mill in India was set up in the year 1855 at Rishra, near Kolkata.
The cultivation of jute in India is mainly confined to the eastern region of the country The jute crop is grown in nearly 83 districts of seven states – West Bengal, As sam, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Meghalaya. West Bengal alone accounts for over 50 percent raw jute production.
