Jute: Regional Focus

Jute plays an important role in the economies of South Asian countries. In India alone it sustains some four million families. Jute: Regional Focus summarizes the jute sector in countries like India, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar and Brazil. Starting from raw material availability, it mentions the consumption, production, export and import of jute fiber and products. It also highlights the problems afflicting the jute sector like stagnant yield, lack of improvement in quality, unremunerative price to the growers, rising cost of production, considerable competition from the synthetic sector, demand erosion, obsolescence of machinery, uneconomic working etc. The book also discusses the competitive strength of jute as against synthetics, possibilities of cost reduction, jute in relation to the environment and the achievements of International Jute Organisation. It also offers an insight into the implications involved in regional cooperation among the jute producing countries. It identifies the components of regional cooperation and investigates the importance and indispensability of regional cooperation with reference to critical issues in the jute sector, besides highlighting the specific areas where some jute producing countries have contributed significantly. Some instances where India has performed well in the field of diversification are given too.