Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division, BARI, and CSISA-MEA organized the “Workforce training on Development and Improvement of Jute Decorticator Machine for Retainin Unbroken Sticks” at FMPE Division, BARI, Gazipur on Friday.
More than 25 participants from various agricultural machinery manufacturing companies across Bangladesh attended the workshop to learn the new developments in fabricating a suitable machine.
Director General of BARI, Dr Debasish Sarker and CSISA-MEA Chief of Party Owen Calvert were among others were present in this event.
Known as Golden Fibre of Bangladesh, jute is steadily increasing in demand in the global market, owing to a growing interest in biodegradable fibre as consumers seek eco-friendly alternatives to synthetics.
However, jute production is under threat due to the labor-intensive fibre extraction procedure and a lack of adequate water during the harvesting season.
By removing fibres from green jute plants and retting the fibres (only) in small quantities of water, mechanization of the process can minimize labor, drudgery, time, expense, and volume of water required.
However, due to the breakage of sticks, farmers are unwilling to use the current fibre extraction process.
Under the supervision of BARI and CSISA-MEA, two comparable jute decorticating machines were manufactured by private manufacturing firms RK Metal and Kamal Machine Tools.
The performance of both the machines was satisfactory with a scope for improvement in the machine capacity and efficiency.
