Nepal and Jute Production
The country of Nepal is located in south-east Asia, land locked between China and India (Wheplton, 1990). There are three main topographical regions in Nepal; the mountain regions where there are some nomadic livestock herders, next are the hill regions where small scale livestock and crop farming occurs on terraces, and finally there is the terai region or otherwise known as the plains region, this is the area where most of the agriculture in Nepal occurs because the land is the most fertile and easiest to manage (Wheplton, 1990).
In the plains there are threats of floods and with that comes soil erosion and crop damage (Wheplton, 1990). Therefore the most efficient crop species are planted, which often happens to be sugar cane, corn, and rice (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Another crop grow in Nepal is a vegetable called jute; this is a long, shiny and fibrous plant, whose fibre is used for burlap bags and string (Dipankar, 2006). Jute is a very labour intensive crop and has decreased in production quite drastically; it used to be a major part of Nepal’s export but in recent years they have been unable to export as much because the competition for arable land is rising and jute often comes second to more efficient and profitable crops (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Jute is a biodegradable natural fibre, which is why the United Nations wishes to increase the use of jute fibre instead of synthetically made plastic fibre (Dipankar, 2006). In the last few decades, production of jute decreased in Nepal because plastic fibres were about 50% cheaper; in the recent years however with the push for environmental stability, export potential and market demand has risen (Dipankar, 2006). Jute is traditional crop in Nepal and once held a great portion of their economic value, this could happen again if the production of jute increased (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Most of the jute farmers in Nepal now are the older geneneration and the younger families do not want to start farming jute because it is very labour intensive and not economically beneficial (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). However, if time and effort was invested into jute production there is a huge potential for the jute industry in Nepal to have a break through and have great benefits to Nepal.
Issues Facing Jute Production
There are many issues in the current jute industry and many possible ways to help increase the production of jute. One problem facing jute production is the seed that they are using because it is genetically low yielding and not uniform in size and tolerance to the environment (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Currently there is research being done to improve the genetics of jute seed to help increase yield and therefore increase the revenue for the farmer (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). As mentioned before jute production is very labour intensive and therefore not always appealing for new farmers. Jute is being sown by hand and later thinned out by hand as well; these two steps are the most labour intensive and very straining for the body. One solution is to use a seed spreader to make the sowing process much faster and easier, this would also in turn distribute the product much more uniformly and therefore the thinning out process would be less work. Unfortunately the farmers will still have to thin out the crop to some extent but not nearly as much as when the seed is sown by hand. This would also lead to less wasting of seed and in return not cost the producers as much money. In the devolving counties such as the USA, Canada, and the western European counties there has been a large push towards environmentally friendly resource; this means natural fibres instead of synthetically made plastics (Dipankar, 2006). This trend is creating a demand and can help Nepal open a market to these developing countries; Nepal just has to be able to fill the supply of jute fibres.
The country of Nepal is located in south-east Asia, land locked between China and India (Wheplton, 1990). There are three main topographical regions in Nepal; the mountain regions where there are some nomadic livestock herders, next are the hill regions where small scale livestock and crop farming occurs on terraces, and finally there is the terai region or otherwise known as the plains region, this is the area where most of the agriculture in Nepal occurs because the land is the most fertile and easiest to manage (Wheplton, 1990).
In the plains there are threats of floods and with that comes soil erosion and crop damage (Wheplton, 1990). Therefore the most efficient crop species are planted, which often happens to be sugar cane, corn, and rice (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Another crop grow in Nepal is a vegetable called jute; this is a long, shiny and fibrous plant, whose fibre is used for burlap bags and string (Dipankar, 2006). Jute is a very labour intensive crop and has decreased in production quite drastically; it used to be a major part of Nepal’s export but in recent years they have been unable to export as much because the competition for arable land is rising and jute often comes second to more efficient and profitable crops (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Jute is a biodegradable natural fibre, which is why the United Nations wishes to increase the use of jute fibre instead of synthetically made plastic fibre (Dipankar, 2006). In the last few decades, production of jute decreased in Nepal because plastic fibres were about 50% cheaper; in the recent years however with the push for environmental stability, export potential and market demand has risen (Dipankar, 2006). Jute is traditional crop in Nepal and once held a great portion of their economic value, this could happen again if the production of jute increased (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Most of the jute farmers in Nepal now are the older geneneration and the younger families do not want to start farming jute because it is very labour intensive and not economically beneficial (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). However, if time and effort was invested into jute production there is a huge potential for the jute industry in Nepal to have a break through and have great benefits to Nepal.
Issues Facing Jute Production
There are many issues in the current jute industry and many possible ways to help increase the production of jute. One problem facing jute production is the seed that they are using because it is genetically low yielding and not uniform in size and tolerance to the environment (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). Currently there is research being done to improve the genetics of jute seed to help increase yield and therefore increase the revenue for the farmer (Ghimire and Yadav, 2014). As mentioned before jute production is very labour intensive and therefore not always appealing for new farmers. Jute is being sown by hand and later thinned out by hand as well; these two steps are the most labour intensive and very straining for the body. One solution is to use a seed spreader to make the sowing process much faster and easier, this would also in turn distribute the product much more uniformly and therefore the thinning out process would be less work. Unfortunately the farmers will still have to thin out the crop to some extent but not nearly as much as when the seed is sown by hand. This would also lead to less wasting of seed and in return not cost the producers as much money. In the devolving counties such as the USA, Canada, and the western European counties there has been a large push towards environmentally friendly resource; this means natural fibres instead of synthetically made plastics (Dipankar, 2006). This trend is creating a demand and can help Nepal open a market to these developing countries; Nepal just has to be able to fill the supply of jute fibres.