A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the National Seeds Corporation and Jute Corporation of India to help in supplying certified jute seeds across the country for improving the production and enhancing the quality of jute production.
According to the MoU, the National Seeds Corporation will purchase approximately 10,000 quintals of seeds from the Jute Corporation of India and will use its network to distribute the seeds throughout the nation.
Union Minister for Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar, and Union Minister for Textiles were virtually present during the process. Tomar stressed that agreements like these would help in strengthening the base of the Jute Industry in the country and will be a cog in the government’s ambitious Atma Nirbhar scheme.
The government aims to use this process to increase the quality of raw jute produced in the country. One of the problems that the Jute Industry suffers is the uneven supply of high-quality raw jute which makes the finished product inferior. The major implication for this is that Indian jute products cannot compete in foreign markets with the quality of Jute from Bangladesh being much better.
Another problem is the high cost of production, from seeds, to harvesting, to machinery every component of the Jute Industry is outdated which significantly increases the cost of production so this process may be seen as a step in eradicating at least one hurdle as increased production will bring down the cost of raw jute.
This is an opportunity for India as there are widespread protests by Jute mill workers in Bangladesh that have brought the industry to a halt and it is up to India to up the ante in the jute market.
