Bangladesh: Production Technology of Jute

Bangladesh: Production Technology of Jute

Soil and climate

Jute is widely grown in sandy loams, clay loams with varying soil management

practices. Sandy soils and heavy clay soil are unsuitable for jute production. Soil with

a low pH give a poor crop. The optimum pH is around 6.4. High and medium high

land where rain and flood water does not stand is suitable for tossa jute cultivation. In

the seedling stage water logging is not tolerated by both species. Jute requires a warm

and humid climate with temperature fluctuating between 240C and 370C. The

permissible relative humidity favorable to growth ranges between 70 and 90 percent.

Rainfall is one of the most important factors for growing jute and the ranges from

250-270mm are essential requisite for good growth and yield of jute.

Seed rate

Proper seed rate is the main factor for plant population, growth of jute plant and for

obtaining maximum yield. Quality seeds of an improved variety itself provide 20%

additional yield of the crop. However, seed rate varies depending on crop

establishment method provided germination percentage of seed being 80% or above.

A. Broadcast method Seed rate (kg/ha)

C. capsularis (white) 7-8

C. olitorius (tossa) 5-6

H. cannabinus (kenaf) 13-14

H. sabdariffa (mesta) 12-13

B. Line sowing method Seed rate (kg/ha)

C. capsularis (white) 5-6

C. olitorius (tossa) 3-4

H. cannabinus (kenaf) 11-12

H. sabdariffa (mesta) 10-11

Seed treatment

Jute, Mesta and Kenaf suffer from a number of diseases and pest. Among the seed

borne diseases, only leaf mosaic is caused by virus, while the rests are caused by

fungal diseases, viz. stem rot, black band, seed rot, seedling wilt, foot rot etc. which

are frequently transmitted through seeds. These diseases can cause up to 30-70% yield

loss. So seed treatment with Vitavax-200 (0.4%) i.e. for one kg of seed with 4gm

Vitavax-200 or Provax-200 (0.4%) before sowing of seeds or preservation of seed is

very useful to control all fungal seed borne diseases of jute and allied fibre crops.

Time of sowing

Different varieties have their respective time for sowing. If sown untimely the growth

is retarded and yield is reduced. When sown earlier, premature flowering occurs and

yield is drastically reduced with deterioration in quality. Generally the sowing of

capsularis varieties starts from late February to April in low lying areas that retain

moisture of the previous flood or monsoon. On the other hand olitorius jute seeds are

sown from 15 March to April. For seed production, the suitable time of seed

sowing/cutting is mid July to last week of August. Sowing time varies 15-30 days

from North to South.

Land preparation

Jute land should be well tiled right after the first pre-monsoon shower. Depending on

the previous crops and its soil texture, it requires a clean, clod-free field with fine

tilth. The land therefore, needs two ploughings and two cross ploughings and

harrowings for a sufficient preparation to a depth 10-15cm followed by laddering.

Jute seed being a very small requires fine tilth for better emergence and establishment

of seedlings. Clay soil needs more ploughing than sandy or sandy-loam. Kenaf and

Mesta seeds being large in size which do not require fine soil tilth as in jute.

Sowing methods

The traditional method of sowing of jute is by broadcasting and line/row sowing.

Line/row cropping has proved advantageous and a single or double row seed drill

used for the capsularis and olitorius varieties are 30 and 20 cm apart respectively.

The plant to plant distance is manually adjusted between 5 cm and 7 cm. Sowing is

always done in shallow depth (3-4 cm). Adjustment in spacing is permissible on the

basis of fertility of the soil. Row planted jute is more uniform, easier to cultivate,

thin out, harvest and ret easily. Besides, the yield is substantially higher and fibre is

more uniform. Row sowing requires additional labour and better soil preparation.

Plant spacing 3cm by 8cm gave 9.7% more fibre and reduce weeding labor by 29%

and harvest labour 10% as compared with broadcast seeding. Besides, line sowing

(30 cm x 5 cm) increased the fibre yield by 12-25% and reduced the cost of

cultivation by about 30% over broadcasting sowing method.

Fertilizer application

The yield of jute may be increased by the application of right kinds, quantities,

methods and time of application of fertilizers. Fertilizers are organic materials of

concentrated nature, they are applied mainly to increase the supply of one or more of

the essential nutrients, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. The use of manures

(organic matter) and fertilizer is complimentary and not as substitute for each other. It

was observed that among the nutrients, nitrogen is mainly responsible for increasing

yield. Phosphorus or potassium alone does not increase yield which improves the

fineness of fibre and potassium controls the disease of jute. The combinations of

nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium interact together to give an extra fibre yield of

1000 Kg/ha. If cowdung used 5 t/ha then fertilizer urea dose could be reduced and

TSP and Zinc sulphate would not be required. The variety wise required

recommended fertilizer doses are given in the following Table.

Time and amount of fertilizer application (kg/ha) of Jute, Kenaf and Mesta fibre production

Variety Urea TSP MP Gypsum Zinc

Sulphate

At basal 45 DAS At basal At basal At basal At basal

Deshi:

CVL-1 83 83 25 30 45 11

CVE-3

Tossa:

O-9897 100 100 50 60 95 11

BJRI Tossa pat-4 88 88 50 40 95 11

BJRI Tossa pat-5 83 83 50 40 95 11

Kenaf:

HC-95 66 66 25 30 - -

Mesta:

HS-24 55 55 25 - - -

* DAS= Days after seeding

Irrigation

Jute is a rainy season crop. There is no need for irrigation. If moisture is not sufficient

enough in the field after sowing of seeds or before sowing of seeds, light irrigation is

given for proper germination. Later on this crop is irrigated when the plants are 10 to

12 cm tall and 3-4 leaves are formed. Supplemental irrigation may be given to the

crop according to requirement of the crop. The field should not be irrigated too much,

but care should be taken that the field does not become dry and compact and the root

development is hampered.

1.3 Intercultural Operation

Weeding is one operation which can increase crop yield. Efficient weeding saves

moisture, crop nutrients and to some extent air and light required for the cultivated

crop. Intercultural operations are as follows:

• First weeding, mulching and simultaneous thinning should be done after 10-15

days of sowing (DAS).

• Second weeding, mulching and simultaneous thinning may be operated after 25-30 DAS.

• Third weeding, mulching and simultaneous final thinning and topdressing of urea

fertilizer followed by hoeing may be operated after 40-50 DAS.

• The jute field should be kept clean to avoid infestation from insects and pests. So

pest management care should be necessary.

• Excess water should not be allowed to stand in the plot at growing stages.

1.4 Harvesting and Seed preservation

Quality of jute fibre has direct relationship with stage of

harvest. It could be harvested between 110-120 days. Early

harvesting gives finer fibre of a good quality where late

harvesting gives a large yield but a coarser fibre. But plants

should be harvested at the early flowering stage. On an

average, tossa jute varieties could be harvested 10 days before

than deshi jute for good quality as well as yield. Harvesting is

done by cutting the plants at or close to the ground level. Next

the plants are tide in bundle loosely. Retting takes longer time if the bundles are tightly

held. The retting microbes and water can not enter easily in tight bundle. The bundled

jute plants should be kept stacked for 3-4 days in the field for defoliation. After

defoliation it becomes ready for next operation of retting.