Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdus Shahid said jute production has increased by 3.3 million bales in the last decade due to the jute-friendly policy of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He said: “The jute production was 5.1 million bales in 2015. In the financial year 2022-23, the country produced around 8.4 million bales of jute. Around 4.3 million bales of jute and jute products have been exported. About Tk8,000 crore has been earned through the export of jute and jute products.”
The minister said these things while addressing a seminar entitled Success and Prospect of Jute Research Genome Centre at Bangladesh Jute Research Institute at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital on Monday.
The minister said: “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina established the Genome Centre back in 2009 to promote genome sequencing to bring back the lost glory of jute. As a result, the life mystery of jute was revealed for the first time in the world in 2010. It paved the way to invent high-yield jute varieties suitable for cultivation in the country.
“And the soil of the country is also very suitable for jute cultivation. Therefore, there are many opportunities to increase jute production,” he added.
The minister urged the scientists to make the best use of the genome sequencing lab to invent high-yielding varieties and production technology for increasing jute production.
Mentioning that work is underway to achieve self-sufficiency in jute seeds, the minister said: "We are not self-sufficient in jute seeds yet. Most of the demand is imported from India. Therefore, the government has made it a priority to reduce import dependency of jute seeds, achieve self-sufficiency in jute seed production and produce more jute in less land.”
“Although the use of polythene has increased, there is a huge demand for environmentally friendly jute and jute products worldwide in the current era of sustainable development. The versatile use of jute fibre is increasing day by day,” the minister continued.
“At present, the domestic market of geotextile is around Tk700 crore. Not only in Bangladesh, the value of environmentally friendly and excellent jute geotextile is increasing instead of synthetic geotextile made from metal netting or polymer for various purposes around the world. Besides, black ash is being exported to China, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Brazil,” he added.
Executive Chairman of the Agricultural Research Council Sheikh Md Bakhtiar, Agriculture Ministry Joint Secretary Rehana Parvin and Jute Research Institute Director General Abdul Awal, among others, spoke there.