Bhubaneswar: Odisha has witnessed a sharp fall in jute cultivation in recent years. Lack of government incentives has discouraged farmers in state from cultivating jute, opined agricultural experts.
Once upon time, Odisha was a leading state in jute cultivation in the country. Many farmers in the coastal districts like Kendrapara, Puri, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur used to cultivate jute as a cash crop. Jute was used for the making sacks, carpets, bags, ropes and other household goods.
Besides, many people in rural areas used the dried up steps of jute plants as fuel. However, jute cultivation has been decreasing in the state since 2000, sources said.
Some agricultural experts and intellectuals are of the opinion that lack of government incentives and assured marketing facilities have discouraged the farmers of Odisha from cultivating jute.
According to data from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, jute was cultivated on around 20 lakh hectare land in state from 1970 to 1995. However, there was a sharp fall in jute cultivation in last five years.
As per the government data, farmers had cultivated jute on 7.56 lakh hectare land in the state in 2014-15 financial year. However, jute was cultivated on 5.63 lakh hectare land in 2015-16 fiscal.
The downward trend in jute cultivation also continued in 2016-17 financial year. In that year, farmers had grown jute on 3.88 lakh hectare of land. However, the state witnessed a slight improvement in jute farming in 2017-18 fiscal. Farmers had cultivated the cash crop on 4.37 lakh hectare land in that year.
But, jute cultivation in state once again came down in 2018-19 fiscal. In that year, farmers cultivated jute on only 3.99 lakh hectare, said data from the Agriculture department.
According to data from the Agriculture department, altogether 86.31 thousand jute fibre bales (one bale is 180 kg) were produced in state in 2014-15 financial year. The figure was 62.89 thousand bales in 2015-16, 44.84 thousand bales in 2016-17, 60.57 thousand bales in 2017-18 and 48.94 thousand bales in 2018-19 financial year, said the data.
According to agricultural experts, the state government has introduced several measures including Agriculture Budget and Agriculture Cabinet to boost the farm sector. However, the state government has not done much to encourage the cultivation of jute and other cash crops, they said.
On the other hand, the Union government has declared certain incentives for the jute farmers in recent years. The Centre has been providing financial incentive of Rs 9,000 per hectare to jute farmers. Besides, it is also providing subsidies on seeds and farm equipment to people who opt to grow jute, sources said.
Moreover, the Centre has made arrangements to provide training to at least 30 jute farmers from each block in a district.
“Jute cultivation was very much popular among the farmers of coastal districts a few years ago. The United Nations Organisation has put emphasis on the use of jute products. The state government has recently banned the use of polythene and plastic bags in some urban areas. The state government should take immediate steps to encourage jute cultivation in Odisha,” said an agricultural expert.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) Surendra Nath Pashupalak said the state has a suitable environment for jute cultivation.
“The demand for jute products has gone up in Odisha after the imposition of ban on polythene and plastic bags. Now-a-days, jute fibre is being used for weaving of saris. The state government should give special attention to jute farming in state. The government can provide financial incentives to jute farmers and arrange marketing facilities for them,” Pashupalak added.
Notably, altogether 115 lakh jute bales were produced in India in 2014-15 financial year. However, jute production came down to 108 lakh bales in 2015-16 fiscal.