(Jute: Improved Cultivation and Advanced Retting Exercise)
A programme initiated by National Jute Board in association with Central Research Institute of Jute & Allied Fibres & The Jute Corporation of India Ltd.
Background and Justification of the Project Jute- ICARE:
Jute occupies a unique position as an eco-friendly, biodegradable and renewable natural fibre with a huge domestic market and export potential. The production of raw jute including mesta is approx 13.50 lakh tonnes covering an area of approx 7.32 lakh hectare in which about 4 million farmer families are involved.
Traditional cultivation practice of jute farmers results in largely low grade fibre because of non-scientific cultivation practice affecting plant growth and imperfect retting due to non-availability of suitable retting facilities and scarcity of water. Modern agronomic practices with quality inputs in three areas namely availability of certified jute seeds sowing, weeding, fibre extraction (retting) are essential for increasing production as well as improvement quality fibre. It has been established that line sowing of jute using seed drill instead of broadcasting increases yield by 10-15%, requires less labour for weeding and thinning, better management of crop for faster growth and facilitates other post-sowing operations. Weed management in jute by wheel hoeing/nail weeder instead of hand weeding plays an important role in increasing the profitability from jute farming by reducing the cost of weeding which is about 35% of total cultivation cost.
Among the various factors that influence the fibre quality are use of certified jute seeds and retting have been identified to be the most significant in influencing quality fibre.
There is need for concerted efforts to reduce the costs of jute growing while improving the productivity and fibre quality for better price realization and value addition.
Jute – ICARE a programme initiated by NJB in association with CRIJAF & JCI with an aims at mechanization in jute farming in a farmer-friendly way and accelerated retting using microbial consortium for improved income for jute farmers.
Objective :
The objective of the project is to support the small and marginal jute growers with adequate pre and post harvesting operations so that they can grow good quality jute & receive higher price for their produce. The continuation of the project will also make the growers aware about the latest technologies in the country.
To institutionalize the use of scientific agronomic techniques and practices, which would be imparted to the jute growers, the following inputs shall be provided :
Components: Line sowing using seed drill.
a) Line sowing using seed drill.
b) Use of certified jute seed for better results
c) Weeding using Cycle Weeder.
d) Personal contact with farmers through SMS informing timely information of cultivation and other practices.
e) Implementation of protocol for scientific cultivation of jute for cost reduction.
f) Application of CRIJAF SONA in traditional retting for improvement of quality of fibre.
Target of the Project :
The targets of the project proposed to be achieved at the end of the project are:
a) Production improvement of jute by at least 5% from current production
b) Grade improvement of jute by at least one grade.
c) Cost reduction in cultivation by Rs.8,000/- to 10,000/- per hectare
including labour saving.
d)Indicative increase in farmer’s income by approximately Rs. 7000/- per hectare due to production and quality improvement.
Activities :
a) Selection of jute growers: Selection of jute growers and their field locations.
b) Training of farmers: Farmers’ training prior to seed distribution (training should start 15-20 days before seed distribution) to make them conversant of better agronomic practices.
c) Land preparation: Land preparation at selected fields by deep ploughing manually or by tractor followed by laddering and leveling of land for making seed beds.
d) SMS: NJB will send SMS to all registered farmers starting from certified seeds, land preparation, sowing, de-weeding, plant protection, retting etc. to educate the growers. CRIJAF will help for preparation of data for SMS. Also IVRS may be implemented.
e) Distribution of certified jute seeds: 100% Certified jute seed (JRO 524/204) will be distributed to the growers at 50% of market price. This would ensure better quality of plants.
f) Distribution of sowing equipments:
i) Multi Row Seed Drill : Line sowing by multi row seed drill is an improved practice of sowing in which requirement of seeds is half or even less than that required for conventional broadcasting practice of sowing jute seed. Row to row spacing in line sowing is maintained at 25-30 cm. while plant to plant spacing is 5-7 cm. This reduces labour cost for thinning and weeding in comparison to that for conventional broadcasting in sowing and gives better yield of fibre.
ii) Cycle Weeder: Jute cultivation in rainy season is prone to heavy weed growth. The operation-wise cost is about 35% on manual weeding and thinning. Weed management in jute by Cycle weeder in inter-rows controls the weeds, conserve soil moisture, enhance soil aeration particularly in heavy textured soil and reduces the labour cost significantly.
The details of physical progress of Jute-ICARE Phase – I to Phase – IX are given below
| Sl. No. | Particulars | ICARE-I (2015-16) | ICARE-II (2016-17) | ICARE-III (2017-18) | ICARE-IV (2018-19) | ICARE-V (2019-20) | ICARE-VI (2020-21) | ICARE-VII (2021-22) | ICARE-VIII (2022-23) | ICARE-IX (2023-24) |
| 1 | No. of Jute growing block / state covered | 4 Blocks under W.B & Assam | 14 Blocks under W.B, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, A.P & Meghalaya | 30 Blocks under W.B, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, A.P & Meghalaya | 69 Blocks under W.B, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, A.P & Meghalaya | 72 blocks under W.B, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, A.P and Meghalaya | 130 blocks under WB, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Meghalaya, AP & Tripura | 140 blocks under WB, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Meghalaya, AP & Tripura | 212 blocks under WB, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Meghalaya, AP & Tripura | 246 blocks under WB, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Meghalaya, AP & Tripura |
| 2 | Land covered (Ha) | 12331 | 26264 | 70628 | 98897 | 106934 | 110893 | 125000 | 163757 | 191272.46 |
| 3 | No. of farmers covered | 21548 | 41616 | 102372 | 193070 | 243549 | 258324 | 300000 | 364862 | 435214 |
| 4 | Certified Jute seed provided (in MT) JRO-204 & JBO-2003H variety | 64 MT | 160 MT | 500 MT | 755 new variety JRO-204 589 M.T and JBO2003H 166 M.T. certified seeds by NSC) | 535 MT | 604 MT | 35MT | JBO2003H=141.266 MT & CO58=52.27 MT TOTAL=193.536 MT | Certified Jute seed provided (CO-58/JBO-2003H/JRO-204 / JROM-1/JBO-1/JRC-532) variety in (MT)=442.598 |
| 5 | Seed drill machine | 350 Nos. | 350 (old) + 350 (new)= 700 | 700 (old) + 500 (new)= 1200 | 1200 (old) + 750 (new) =1950 | 1950 (old) + 600 (new) = 2550 | 2550 (old) + 600 (new)=3150 | 3150 (old) + 1000 (new)= 4150 | 4150(old)+800(new)=4950 | 4950(old)+800(new)=5750 |
| 6 | Nail Weeder machine | 500 Nos. | 500 (old) + 200 (new)= 700 | 700 (old) + 500 (new)= 1200 | 1200 (old) + 750 (new) =1950 | 1950 (old) + 900 (new)= 2850 | 2850 (old) + 900 (new)=3750 | 3750 (old) + 1200 (new)= 4950 | 4950(old)+800(new)=5750 | 5750(old)+800(new)=6550 |
| 7 | CRIJAF SONA (MT) | 83 | 273 | 206 | 610 | 612 MT | 500 MT | 600 MT | 598.545 MT | 600 MT (Distribution is ongoing) |
| 8 | NINFET SATHI | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | Nil | 50 MT | 100 MT (Distribution is ongoing) | |
| 9 | SMS sent to each registered farmers | 46 sets of SMS | 52 sets of SMS | 55 sets of SMS | 60 sets of SMS | 75 sets of SMS | Advisory issued by CRIJAF distributed to the farmers | Advisory issued by CRIJAF distributed to the farmers | ||
| 10 | Number of Awareness Camp | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | 263 Nos | 280 Nos | |
| 11 | Sowing & Retting demo | 50 Nos. | 132 Nos. | 200 Nos. | 400 Nos. | 500 Nos. | 300 Nos. | 500 Nos | 2269 Nos | 2485 (is on going) |
| 12 | Young Professional (Master Trainer) Engagement | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | 59 | 49 | 65 | 72 | 91 | 105 |
| 13 | Crop Survilance through Bhuban Jump App (in collaboration with ISRO) (fig. in no. of field locations) | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | DATA DOES NOT TRACK | 4354 | 21744 | |
| 14 | Mask Distribution to Farmers | 288846 | ||||||||
| 15 | Crop Cutting Experiment (fig. in numbers) | 314 | 718 |
Due to the concerted efforts made in the implementation of the project for scientific practice the following feedback has been received –
i. Quality of jute fibre is found to be better than normal retting
ii. Retting time reduced from 18-22 days to 12-14 days with about 10% higher fibre recovery.
iii. Yield per hectare raises from 23/24 quintals per hectare to 29/30 quintal per hectare due to uses of certified jute seeds, line sowing and retting by CRIJAF SONA.
Raw Jute Purchase Procedure and Jute I-Care Service
Monthly Status of Jute I-CARE
As on May 2024
