An annual (Corchorus capsularis) growing to 3·5 m/11½ ft, a relative of the lime tree, and native to S Asia; leaves ovoid; flowers in axils of leaves, yellow. The stems, soaked and beaten to separate the fibres, are used in hessian and sacking. (Family: Tiliaceae.)
The word Jute is also used in reference to the Germanic people, the Jutes.Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads.
Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibers, and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses. Jute fibres are composed primarily of the plant materials, cellulose (major component of plant fibre) and lignin (major components wood fibre). The industrial term for Jute fibre is Raw Jute.
Jute fibre is often called hessian, jute fabrics are also called hessian cloth, and jute sacks are called gunny bags in some European countries.
After the procurement of jute fibre through the Retting Process, jute is graded (rated) according to its colour, strength, and fibre length.
Cultivation
The suitable climate for growing jute (warm and wet climate) is offered by the monsoon climate during the monsoon season.
To grow jute, farmers scatter the seeds on cultivated soil. This process softens the tissues and breaks the hard pectin bond between the bast and jute hurd (inner woody fibre stick) and the process permits the fibres to be separated. In order to produce a broader use of jute for decorative, furnishing, and apparel products, further processing needs to occur.
History
It has been suggested that History of jute fibre be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)For centuries, Jute has been an integral part of Bengali culture, which is shared by Both Bangladesh and West Bengal of India. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the raw jute fibre was exported to the United Kingdom, where it was then processed in mills concentrated in Dundee ("Jute Weaver" was a recognised trade occupation in the 1901 UK census), but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970 due to the entrance of synthetic fibres.
Magaret Donnelly I, was a jute mill landowner in Dundee in the 1800's. In the 1950's and 1960's when nylon and polythene were rarely used, the United Pakistan (then the world leader in Jute products) was earning money through jute of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. But, as the use of polythene and other synthetic materials as a substitute for jute started to capture the market, most economists said that jute industry is experiencing a decline. The long decline in demand forced the largest jute mill in the world (Adamjee Jute Mills) to close. But the farmers of Bangladesh surprisingly did not stop growing jute, mainly due to demand in the internal market. Recently, (2004-2006) the jute market turned back again and the price of raw jute increased more than 50% due to high demand of jute products worldwide. It has been shown that flax, jute, and hemp fibres contain characteristics such as ductile structure and stiffness per unit of weight that result in benefits during side impacts. In some cases, jute has become the better option than flax in producing car interiors. Moreover, jute proved to be the most cost effective fibre in this sector, as jute is the cheapest vegetable fibre with very high tensile strength.
See also: History of jute fibre
Uses
Jute is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton; Jute is used chiefly to make cloth for wrapping bales of raw cotton, and to make sacks and coarse cloth.
While jute is being replaced by synthetic materials in many of these uses, some uses take advantage of jute's biodegradable nature, where synthetics would be unsuitable. Examples of such uses include containers for planting young trees which can be planted directly with the container without disturbing the roots, and land restoration where jute cloth prevents erosion occurring while natural vegetation becomes established.
The fibres are used alone or blended with other types of fibres to make twine and rope. Jute butts, the coarse ends of the plants, are used to make inexpensive cloth. As Jute fibres are also being used to make pulp and paper, and with increasing concern over forest destruction for the wood pulp used to make most paper, the importance of jute for this purpose may increase. Jute has a long history of use in the sackings, carpets, wrapping fabrics (cotton bale), construction fabric manufacturing industry.
Traditionally Jute was used in traditional textile machineries as textile fibres having cellulose (vegetable fibre content) and lignin (wood fibre content). But, the major breakthrough came, when the automobile industry, pulp and paper industry, and the furniture and bedding industry started to use jute and its allied fibres with their non-woven and composite technology to manufacture nonwovens, technical textiles, and composits. Therefore, jute has changed its textile fibre outlook and steadily heading towards its newer identity, i.e. Because, as a textile fibre, jute has reached its peak from where there is no hope of progress. But, as a wood fibre, jute has many promising features .
Jute has entered various diversified sectors, where natural fibres are gradually becoming better substitution. The geotextiles can be used more than a year and the bio-degradable jute geotextile left to rot on the ground keeps the ground cool and is able to make the land more fertile.
Moreover, jute can be grown in 4-6 months with a huge amount of cellulose being produced from the Jute hurd (Inner woody core or parenchyma of the Jute stem) that can meet most of the wood needs of the world.
Thus, jute is the most environment-friendly fibre starting from the seed to expired fibre, as the expired fibres can be recycled more than once.
Diversified byproducts which can be cultivated from jute include uses in food, cosmetics, medicine, paints, and other products. It is a natural fibre with golden and silky shine and hence called The Golden Fibre It is the cheapest vegetable fibre procured from the bast or skin of the plant's stem It is the second most important vegetable fibre after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption, production, and availability It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breathability of fabrics. Therefore, jute is very suitable in agricultural commodity bulk packaging It helps to make best quality industrial yarn, fabric, net, and sacks. Jute plant is derived from a relative of the Hemp (Cannabis) plant. However, Jute is totally free from narcotic elements or odour The varieties of Jute are: Tossa Jute - Corchorus olitorius (Golden shine) and White Jute - Corchorus capsularis (Silvery Shine) The best source of Jute in the world is the Bengal Delta Plain in the Ganges Delta, most of which is occupied by Bangladesh. Advantages of jute include good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having low thermal conductivity and a moderate moisture regain. Other advantages of jute include acoustic insulating properties and manufacture with no skin irritations. Jute has the ability to be blended with other fibres, both synthetic and natural, and accepts cellulosic dye classes such as natural, basic, vat, sulfur, reactive, and pigment dyes. As the demand for natural comfort fibres increases, the demand for jute and other natural fibres that can be blended with cotton will increase. Jute has a decreased strength when wet, and also becomes subject to microbial attack in humid climates. Jute can be processed with an enzyme in order to reduce some of its brittleness and stiffness. Once treated with an enzyme, jute shows an affinity to readily accept natural dyes, which can be made from marigold flower extract. In one attempt to dye jute fabric with this extract, bleached fabric was mordanted with ferrous sulphate, increasing the fabrics dye uptake value. This process is used for bright and fast coloured value-added diversified products made from jute.
User Comments Add a comment…