Jute Production: The Need for Linkage among Research, Farmers and Industries in West Bengal, India

Abstract

The research study was conducted in four major jute growing districts of West Bengal to analyse the problems in jute sector as a whole and to develop a model to frame for the effective functioning of the jute sector. The major constraints faced by the jute farmers in the jute production (n=120) was analyzed using rank based quotients which indicated (1) the high cost of labour (2), Middle men (3), Lack of knowledge about fibre grades (4), unavailability of labour and so on. Similarly one of the major problems in this area is workers’ unavailability which have been scored highest (0.99) followed by cost of labour (0.86), competing with synthetic products (0.68) and lack of demand among others (0.63). Industrial views on jute fiber production and procurement showed that, 86.5 per cent of the respondents were unhappy with the retting method and required them to be improved so that no part of the fibre should be wasted, they think that there should be more participation come from the State government. After analyzing the existing linkage, the study had come out with a new model for the better performance of the jute sector, involving all the stakeholders.