This year, in spite of the fact that, jute sowing was above expectation, but then there has been a fall in production on account of scanty rains in a number of major jute cultivating regions of West Bengal.
Jute production thus seems to have gone down to a certain extent. The State Government which recently declared 11 of its total 18 districts to be drought-hit, has sanctioned Rs. 500 million to deal with the situation that has come up account of scanty rains to an extent of 30 percent.
The 11 districts that have been declared drought-hit include, Purulia, Bankura, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan, Hooghly, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Malda.
Nadia and Murshidabad being major jute producing regions, which contribute around 60-65 percent of the country's overall jute production. Also, for some of the regions though delayed harvesting could have been possible, but then there was fear that crops might suffer damage.
Estimates reveal that, this fiscal witnessed a sizeable increase in the sowing of raw jute at around 11.5-12.0 million bales, as around 9 million bales during last fiscal.
The low rains in several areas of West Bengal are expected to cause major problems in reaping as scarce water would not support retting of the crops. Also if the harvesting is delayed, it would also damage a considerable amount of the crop and may even affect the quality of the harvested jute as retting of the crop would then have to be done in muddy water.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India