QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN JUTE AND KENAF FIBRE HSSEN1 FORMER

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Quality Improvement in Jute and Kenaf Fibre

Quality Improvement in Jute and Kenaf Fibre


H.S.Sen1

Former Director, Central Research Institute for Jute & Allied Fibres

(ICAR/DARE, Government of India), Barrackpore, North 24 Parganas

West Bengal, India, PIN 700 120

(Email: [email protected], [email protected])


Abstract


Future of raw jute fibre consisting of Corchorus and Hibiscus species lies mainly through quality improvement for diversified and value-added uses. This can be achieved in three broad ways, viz. (1) technical processing, (2) genetic manipulation, and (3) cultural along with retting practices. The paper presents following a brief discussion on the role of fibre quality improvement for various diversified products, the factors influencing quality parameters, their limitations in applications, and future thrust areas.


Commensurate with the expected rise in production of jute and kenaf by 3-4 times in 2050 of the present value there is a need for proportionately higher attention for improved yarns to meet product specific quality norms for the manufacture of (i) high quality blended apparel grade textiles, (ii) Technical, industrial and home textiles including non-woven, (iii) automotives, (iv) soil savers, (v) bio-composites, (vi) pulp and paper, (vii) fine chemicals, cosmetics and healthcare products, and (viii) bio-fuels. Technological upgradations are required for meeting the prescribed limits with consistency in quality.


Improvement in fibre quality either genetically or by improving technological processing, or through improved cultural practices is of prime concern. This will enhance the demand for jute yarns. We generally concentrate on improving texture, colour, weight per unit reduction, hairiness, low extensibility, poor abrasion resistance, etc. in order to improve the quality. The principal uses for jute yarns are for industrial purposes in which adequate strength is normally regarded as essential. Appearance, colour and other attributes are however of relatively lesser significance. It is now regarded that the yarn should be of finer counts (6 lb/ spy and below) which should be not only quality- but also cost-competitive so as to attract the market. On the other hand, such yarns should be converted to light, dense and strong hessian fabrics for ready acceptability to the market and higher financial return. This is a technological challenge for those engaged in industry to achieve the above targets.

From plant anatomical point of view the length-breadth ratio (L:B) of ultimate fibre cells has a definite bearing on fibre quality. Higher the ratio finer is the fibre.

______________________________________________________________________

1Present address: 2/74 Naktala, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, PIN 700 0047


Some wild species have been identified as prospective donors to impart higher L:B

ratio vis-a-vis finer fibre through appropriate breeding practice. Similarly, there are some other wild species which may also impart finer fibre quality. High lignin content in these fibres is responsible for colour instability, which is a distinct disadvantage in the dyed products. Reducing lignin content to the optimum level by genetic manipulation is, therefore, logical. Detailed studies on a jute mutant, ‘deficient lignified phloem fibre’ (dlpf), suggested its usefulness to engineer low-lignin jute variety. Genetical manipulation is a very important approach to achieve the targeted quality improvement. Assemblage of genes on the jute chromosomes is very poorly understood. It is now necessary to focus on developing linkage map of olitorius jute, in particular, to start with, which would help in preparing an integrated map using molecular map data on the species. In kenaf, cytological studies of various inter-specific cross derivatives established the genome constitution of H. cannabinus L., a diploid, indicating a genomic relationship between this species and H. radiatus L. H. sabdariffa L. is, however, an autotetraploid. It is extremely important to make note of the fact that modern biotechnological methods and tools in combination with traditional approaches through marker assisted selection have the potential to achieve product specific quality improvements in future calling for international network of activities as happened in few other crops, mainly cereals.


Improvement of cultural practices, particularly retting, is considered another very important approach, which should be user-, cost-, as well as environment-friendly, for quality upgradation of the fibres for both these crops.


In terms of constraints to achieve the targets stated above it is imperative, from technological point of view, to develop some suggested machineries and quality monitoring instruments, and, from the point of view of plant research, adequate fund and international network activities for studies on jute and kenaf genome with well-targeted programme.

Introduction


Favourable conditions for jute cultivation are found in the deltas of the great rivers of their tropics and sub-tropics - the Ganges, the Irrawaddy, the Amazon, and the Yangtze, for example, where irrigation, often by extensive flooding, and alluvial soils combined with long day lengths prevail. The crop however thrives very well under rainfed and hot humid and sub-tropical conditions in the Bengal Basin in India and in Bangladesh where more than 80 % of the crop of the world is grown. Comparatively, kenaf requires less water to grow than jute and is now grown in several countries in Europe, Africa, South America, Mexico, the United States, Japan and China. Both jute and kenaf reach 2.5-3.0 m in height at maturity; but kenaf, although still requiring a longer day length for vegetative growth, flourishes in drier conditions than jute can, and can adapt to a wider variety of soils and climates. As a result, it has often been preferred to jute as a fibre crop by many countries in Africa and Latin America, although usually for internal consumption. Significantly, kenaf (H. cannabinus) plantation (if grown in high density) has been recorded to fix about twice the amount of CO2 as compared to forest plantation thereby contributing to global and regional environment (Lam et al., 2003).

The specifications and standards of classic jute products have remained unchanged for decades. The traditional products are dominated by sacks (nearly 50 %), though improved ‘food bags’, devoid of mineral oil, meant for cocoa and coffee beans have been developed out of these sacks. Next is hessian (< 20 %), yarn for carpet & twines (≈ 20 %), hessian for CBC (≈ 2 %), and other items including soil savers, jute woven matting, bags, decorated farics, etc. (≈ 10 %). Commensurate with the expected rise in production of jute and kenaf by 3-4 times in 2050 of the present value there is a clear need for proportionately higher attention to non-traditional diversified products. It is prudent that for jute industry to survive and possibly flourish with a much brighter future it should take recourse to this non-traditional group of products which will require generally the improved quality fibres. The product specificities of a variety of these products have been documented (Hazra and Karmakar, 2004; Karmakar et al., 2008), but needs lot more work for refining for each area of application. The manufacture of diversified jute products requires the use of best grades of raw jute in most cases, more capital investment, higher textile levels of design and market skill, more capable and focused mill management, a degree of entrepreneurship above and beyond that usually found in the traditional industry, and on the top of that, considerable R&D expenditure. The real future, however, lies in the area of technical textiles (Roy, 2008).


The improved yarns are needed to meet product specific quality norms for the manufacture of (i) high quality blended apparel grade textiles, (ii) Technical, industrial and home textiles including non-woven, (iii) automotives, (iv) soil savers, (v) bio-composites, (vi) pulp and paper, (vii) fine chemicals, cosmetics and healthcare products, and (viii) bio-fuels. Technological upgradations are required for meeting the prescribed limits with consistency in quality also. This can be achieved in three broad ways, viz. (1) technical processing, (2) genetic manipulation, and (3) cultural along with retting practices. The paper presents following a brief discussion on the role of fibre quality improvement for various diversified products, the factors influencing quality parameters, their limitations in applications, and future thrust areas.


Quality improvement and scope for uses


Plant anatomy: fibre structure


Tossa jute, white jute, H.S.mesta, and H.C.mesta fibres are arranged in the bast or phloem region of the plant consisting of pyramidal wedges which taper outwards; the fibre bundles in each wedge are arranged in 8-24 layers, alternating with groups of thin walled phloem. The bast fibre strands form a tubular mesh that encases the entire stem from top to bottom. This is looser towards the top of the stem becoming progressively more compact towards the basal region where again meshiness is looser towards the outside of the stem but much more compact towards the region near the cambium (Kundu, 1954; Kundu et al., 1959; Maiti, 1980,1997). The meshiness is more in both mesta species than in jute. It is well known that meshiness is an obstacle to carding process, which is done to break up the fibre sheath as a preliminary to spinning, and thus for finer quality yarn preparation.


Properties


The fibres of jute and kenaf are lingo-cellulosic in nature, multi-cellular with single cells embedded in a matrix composed of non-cellulosic matters, and lignin constitutes one of the primary components in the system. The end use application of these fibres primarily depends on their physical, structural and chemical properties.


Following are the salient characteristics for jute and kenaf vis-à-vis other fibre crops required for consideration to improve the fibre quality of the former group (Sreenivasan, 2004).

  1. High variations in length and diameter are found to be inherent features.

  2. Variability in tensile characteristics like breaking load and extension is quite high.

  3. No significant drop in tenacity was noted during wetting of each except flax.

  4. Efforts to increase the fineness by chemical treatments lead to deterioration in tensile properties indicating the strong role of binding materials.

  5. Moisture regain values have been noted to be very high indicating their comfort character.

  6. Breaking extension is found to be highly correlated to the spiral angle.

  7. The amorphous and crystalline regions is of low order in jute and kenaf, as compared to ramie, as shown by high birefringence values recorded in ramie.

  8. Cellulose content is lower but hemi-cellulose content is much higher in jute, as compared to those in ramie and flax, the latter group known to yield improved quality decorticated fibres.

  9. Lignin content is also much higher in jute, as compared to that in ramie and flax, the latter group known to yield improved quality decorticated fibres.


Diversified jute goods


The demand prospect for exportable jute yarn is the brightest spot in export chain. Bangladesh has led over other countries in respect of quality jute fibre production and its export. In India, however, export of JDPs constituted around 27% of total jute goods export in 2003-04. Amongst JDPs, floor covering was the most dominant (Rs. 95.44 crores in 2003-04), followed by hand and shopping bags (Rs. 95 crores in 2003-04) and home textile made-ups. Except jute geo-textiles, all the items mentioned above basically require higher quality fibre, which is inadequately available in India.


Major areas of diversified use are:


QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN JUTE AND KENAF FIBRE HSSEN1 FORMER

Textile products


Finest yarn, fashion products

Added value





Fine yarn, home textile clothing





Coarse yarn, carpet ropes





Filters, high-tech composites

Packaging mat. Car interiours Composites






Plant pot Geo-textile, pulp and paper





Mass potential

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN JUTE AND KENAF FIBRE HSSEN1 FORMER





Fig. 1. Added value versus mass potential of bast fibre products (Kessler et al., http://www.ienica.nes/fibresseminar/kessler.pdf)


Fig.1 shows a selection of potential of textile and non-textile products and their added values. As can be seen from the graph, textile products usually show higher mass potential and higher added value in comparison to technical applications. The demands in technical applications are much higher at lower costs. Nevertheless, man-made fibres can be designed specifically suiting to the individual application and also that the quality can be guarantied year by year.


Plant biomass utilization as by-products


It is well known that huge plant biomass is produced while growing jute and kenaf for fibre purpose. Fibre constitutes only 4-6% of the total biomass, while sticks (generally used as fuel source) contribute the most, and the rest (except seed) is never utilized. The available information (Hazra et al., 2008) strongly suggest that these plant parts have got great potentials for product diversification, which are given below (Table 1), apart from those mentioned in the preceding sections.


Table 1. Plant biomass utilization as by-products


Crop

Plant parts

Application areas/ chemicals

Jute

Seed

Seed oil (8.2 to 11.9%) for industrial uses

Leaf, stem, seed, root and whole plant

Direct medicinal uses; contain 18 phamaco-dynamic compounds suitable for drug development

Kenaf

Seed

Seed oil (21.44%) for industrial uses

Leaf, stem, seed, root and whole plant

Direct medicinal uses; contain 14 phamaco-dynamic compounds suitable for drug development

Calyx

Jam, jelly, sauce, chutneys and natural colours

Jute and Kenaf

(H. S. mesta and H. C. mesta)

Sticks

Paper pulp, oxalic acid, furfural, charcoal, viscose rayon, Carboxymethyl Cellulose (CMC) & microcrystalline cellulose (MC)


Efforts towards promotion of JDP


As a measure of support to jute industry, Government of India enacted a special legislation called the Jute Packaging Materials (compulsory use in packing commodities) Act, 1987 under which the Government from time to time issues notified order specifying the commodities to be packed compulsorily in jute bags. The use of jute bags under this Act has started getting diluted phase-wise. The jute sector thus can’t indefinitely depend upon such a protected marketing condition – and more dilution of this act is a certainty in future. The industry has to develop itself to withstand the competition being thrown up by synthetics particularly in the WTO regime. Product diversification is one of the major options for their sustenance. Lately, Government of India instituted a comprehensive Jute Policy subsequent to which The Jute Technology Mission (JTM) became operational. Very recently, Government of India announced, as a sequel to this move, formation of National Jute Board for more concerted and integrated attention for the promotion of this family of crops.


Similarly, the Government of Bangladesh made an all out effort to resolve the issue for promotion of improved quality of fibres through Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC) since 2002 with the mandate to achieve its objectives both regionally and globally. A high level national task force has been constituted to recommend appropriate measures to salvage jute sector out of its present economic crisis. In an endavour to give further thrust in this direction, JDPC was made stronger with the support of Delegation of the European Commission, while in order to redefine its goals and objectives. Accordingly, National Jute Policy-2008 has been adopted by the government with the renewed objectives to attain and sustain a pre-eminent global standing in the production of raw jute and in the manufacture and export of jute goods. It also seeks to strengthen R&D activities in agricultural practices with a vision to ensure remunerative prices to the farming community.


Grading and classification


Different countries have got different systems of grading. For jute fibre exported from Bangladesh, for example, the current grading system first separates C. capsularis and C. olitorius into white and tossa categories, respectively and then further classifies each into six grades denoted by the letters A to E and one of ‘Special’ category. The highest price is paid for Grade A, although for a special grade higher price may be demanded. Similar system of grading subjectively is in vogue in India also, where the earlier classification into 8 categories, i.e. TD1-TD8 for tossa jute and W1-W8 for white jute has recently been revised to 6 categories in each, subject to acceptance by the government, for better understanding and higher transparency. Likewise, China has got 4 grades, Indonesia 3, and Nepal 2 grades of fibre classification.


The principal criteria are colour, lustre, strength, cleanliness, and freedom from retting defects (Rowell and Stout, 1998).Two major parameters of fibre quality, i.e. strength and fineness are genetically controlled. From spinning point of view, colour is irrelevant but certain end users traditionally prefer fibres in particular colours for the sake of appearance. Lustre is commonly an indication of strength: if, for example, the fibre is over-retted, the cellulose or middle lamella is attacked and weakened, the surface will then appear dull. A lack of lustre thus downgrades the fibre although occasionally this same effect may result from inadequate washing, without any loss of strength. Strength of fibre is also assessed by snapping a few strands by hand, a procedure that gives a useful indication of quality to an experienced operator. Cleanliness and freedom from non-fibrous matter is an important feature. In this respect, the physical imperfections that may result from improper retting can have a profound effect on the allotted grade. Adhering bark in any form results in downgrading, irrespective of the intrinsic value of the fibre; and in the case of plants grown on flooded land, which stand in water, the bark becomes so difficult to remove that, for export, the root ends are cut off and sold separately as “cuttings,” to be used in heavy yarns of low quality.


The linear density of the individual fibres making up the network is given little consideration in grading, despite the importance of this characteristic in staple fibres, where it is a major factor controlling the levelness of the spun yarn. Adhering bark increases the linear density of the fibre and makes subjective assessment difficult. Khuda et al. (1970) have studied the variation in chemical constituents of jute fibre taken from different grades of both white and tossa and concluded that certain correlations exist between the analytical results and the commercial grade. Thus it is claimed that, as the grades go from higher to lower, the lignin content increases. The ash content and copper number show similar negative correlations with level of fibre grade. Although it might be expected that variations in chemical composition would result in variations in physical characteristics, a correlation with fibre grade is surprising. The chemical composition is that of the fibre itself, and can scarcely take account of the physical imperfections resulting from inadequate retting, which are so important in commercial grading.


The essential feature of any system of grading is that it be self-consistent in the sense that buyers and sellers can agree on the attributes that place a fibre in a particular grade. But it does not follow that a subjective system based on appearance and feel will classify fibre in the same way that an objective system based on measurement will. Both systems may be valid but in different ways, and there is no need to seek a close correlation between them except, perhaps, for classification of the top and bottom grades. Commercial buying and selling takes place according to a subjective system. A buyer selects a range of fibre grades from which blends will be made up appropriate to the different yarn qualities required. If these fibre grades can now be measured for quality according to an objective system, more precision in blending will be possible. Any system of objective grading based on measurable characteristics, in fact, must be concerned with the fibre as it is, including non-fibrous matter, and not merely with the single fibres themselves. With the condition in view, Mather (1968), in work extending over a decade at the British Jute Trade Research Association laboratories in Scotland, studied the classification of a bulk of jute for its spinning quality.


Standard specifications: Unlike in the established fibre industry dealing with cotton, wool or man made fibres, there exist no standards for flax and hemp (Kohler and Wedler, 1996; Kessler et al., http://www.ienica.nes/fibresseminar/kessler.pdf). Nevertheless for the assessment of the final fibre property for textile applications of hemp and alike we may take cue from standard fibre classifications used in cotton and wool industry (Table 2) for certification as suggested by industry (Kohler and Wedler, 1996; Kessler et al., http://www.ienica.nes/fibresseminar/kessler.pdf), which needs to be debated upon for their suitability for international acceptance for jute and kenaf, in particular.


Fibre grades and application areas


In India, in order to simplify the existing fibre grading system for the benefit of farmers and as per recommendation made by CACP (accepted by GOI), specific recommendation for reduction in the number of grades based on scientific logics were made by the expert group to the government for necessary action. Table 3 provides tentative list of end products against each (revised) grade proposed, suggesting the importance of fibre quality (Sen et al., 2008). This, however, needs to be refined through research-industry interactive discussion for acceptance to all stakeholders preferably for international acceptance.


Remunerative price for better fibre quality


Since the economics of jute and allied fibre crops are entirely market oriented, and the crops are grown mostly by small and marginal farmers, it is essential that the respective governments continue to fix Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jute to safeguard the interest of growers. The prices for different grades of fibre be so fixed that would ensure higher price for improved quality, which would encourage the growers to grow higher grade fibres. As such the MSP at present is on the lower side which needs to be enhanced, and the criteria need to be re-looked with careful consideration of cost of cultivation and incentives for higher grade fibre.


Table2. Suggested fibre properties for technical applications (Kessler et al., http://www.ienica.nes/fibresseminar/kessler.pdf)


Technical yarns

Mechanical

bonded

non-wovens

Various fields of

application as

reinforcing fibre

Friction linings

Paper production

Fibre length

mean fibre length

50-100 mm

CV H

< 70%





Fineness

mean fineness

5-20 dtex or

20-86 μm

Fibre length

mean fibre length

20-70 mm

CV H

50 %





Fineness

mean fineness

5 dtex or

20 μm


Fibre-Fibre- adhesion

high

Fibre tenacity

tensile strength

700 -1100 N/mm²

or 47-73 cN/tex

elongation

2 %

E-modulus

40-70 kN/mm²


Fibre length

mean fibre length

3-25 mm/ 25 mm

short fibre length

10 %


Fineness

mean fineness

3-17 dtex or 10-74

μm


Fibre-Fibre-adhesion

zero


Trash

almost free of dust

and wood

Fibre length

mean fibre length

0,1-10 mm

CV H

50%




Fineness

mean fineness

10-20 μm


Density

  • 1,4-1,5 g/cm³


Surface area

1500-10000 cm²/g


Moisture

  • 8-10%


Flash point

  • 300-600° C

Fibre length

mean fibre length

4 mm

Long fibre length

8 mm

short fibre length

1 mm


Impurities

trash contents

10%

fibre fragments

10%


Upgradation of processing technology

Basic features: Jute is one of the most important fibres used for industrial applications. The fibre has a rough feel, however, the best quality fibres are smooth and soft. A single jute fibre cell (ultimate) has an average length of 2.5 mm and a breadth of 0.021 mm. There are usually between 6 to 20 ultimates in each cross section of a fibre. The strand length varies approximately from 1.5 to 3.5 m. The average weight per unit length of individual fibres varies from 1.9 to 2.2 tex. The average length of a single fibre is 0.5 to 50 cm. The individual fibre shows nodes and cross markings in the longitudinal views, and polygonal shapes of the cross section. The jute fibre varies greatly in strength (30-50 g tex-1). It has an elongation at break of approximately 1.7 percent. It is highly hygroscopic in nature (moisture regain at 65 % R.H. is 12.8 %). The specific gravity of jute fibre is 1.48 %. The fibres in the strand are organized in a meshy structure. During processing this meshy structure is oped to form fibres (Sengupta et al., 2008).


Table 3. A tentative list of end products grade-wise (in India)


Proposed grades

Existing

grades

End products(tentative suggestions)

TD1/W1

1+2

Fine yarn, specialties, carpet backing cloth, items where fibre quality is important.

TD2/W2

3

Fine yarn, carpet backing cloth, fine Hessian, blended products, items where fibre quality is important.

TD3/W3

4

Hessian warp, fine Hessian, blended products, items where fibre quality is important.

TD4/W4

5

Hessian weft, sacking warp, light sacking wept, blended products.

TD5/W5

6

Ordinary sacking wept, cotton sacking, items where fineness has no impact.

TD6/W6

7+8

Poor sacking, non-woven, paper and pulp, Geo-textiles, composites, etc.

The wide variation in certain typical characteristics of the jute fibre, particularly the meshy structure, make it difficult in processing. Hence, its processing machineries are quite different than any other fibre processing machines. In 1830, the spinning machines were developed, before which hand spinning and weaving were in practice at Dundee, Scotland and subsequently, the technology was transferred to India in around 1850.

Defining product goals: In producing value-added goods the goals need to defined in the first hand (Sur, 2004), which may be:

Future approach: With the increased interest in jute diversified products a number of mills are becoming more and more concerned about the production of quality yarns as inputs for improved products. They face much problems to keep both quality and productivity at satisfactory levels in case of fine yarn spinning by employing available technology matrix of 4 Ms : Man, Machine, Material and Methodology (process). The objective should be to produce finer quality yarns which should be cost- and quality competitive in the market. On the other hand, such yarns should be converted to light, dense and strong new generation hessian fabrics for market acceptability. The production of good quality finer yarns out of coarse jute fibres and slivers is a real technological challenge for the researchers engaged in this field. The crux of the challenge should be to produce fine jute yarns with average number of fibres per cross section in the range of 50-100 from slivers having much adverse fibre length distribution for the purpose for which the available machineries and methodology are not suitable. For this, yarn regularity in terms of strength and mass variation (short and long term) is not so satisfactory since this, in the first hand, affects spinning and weaving efficiencies, and then quality and texture of the final fabrics. It is, therefore, necessary to develop a processing methodology to alleviate these technological constraints (Sur and Aditya, 2008).

Sur and Aditya (2008) proposed an innovative approach to produce fine jute yarns of 6 lb/ spy and below which should be cost-competitive provided the suggested machineries and monitoring instruments are developed indigenously and right batch selection, right process control and quality control are effected. It has also been proposed that for such fine yarns there will be ready acceptance in the market and if such fine yarns are converted (preferably using modern shuttleless looms) into light and strong fabrics there will be scope for further value-addition through production of new generation items. The benchmarks and other relevant technological details have been presented for producing improved quality yarns.

Quality improvement: Quality improvement by artificial methods is possible to achieve by different chemical processes, viz. chlorination, alkaline treatment, mercerization, benzoylation, etherification, cross-linking, sulphonation, etc. through modification of jute fibres, yarns and fabrics. Chemically a significant improvement in the values of (a) the dry and wet crease resistance and (b) a reduction in moisture regain properties of the bleached jute were obtained by UF-, MF and DMDHEU resins with tolerable loss of tensile strength and abrasion resistance. Such processes were also found to improve the performance characteristics of jute carpets. Recently, improvement of the physico-chemical properties, such as whiteness, light fastness, flexural rigidity, water retention value, moisture regain, extensibility and proportionate increase in alpha-cellulose content and proportionate decrease in hemi-cellulose and lignin contents in jute and kenaf have been accomplished by employing chemical processes. This opened up new outlets for the production of value-added or diversified goods of jute and kenaf fibres (Lutfar et al., 2004).


Linkage with jute industry


Since jute for fibre and other related industries are the first hand consumers, it is desirable that close linkage between research and industry be made for mutual benefit. Product specific requirements can be judged better by the inputs from the industries, which would help in formulating market driven research through appropriate means. Even the ongoing programmes can be modified according to market needs.



Jute fibre grade-wise availability


Role of agri-retail majors


I take the example of India, being the largest producer, to discuss on this topic in the absence of sufficient data available from other countries. It is believed that situation in Bangladesh is almost the same and therefore inferences drawn from India would possibly apply to Bangladesh and thus to other countries as well. In the trade, crop-wise profile of raw jute fibre in India, the largest producer, is: tossa jute (80%), white jute (8%), H. S. mesta (roselle) (7%), and H. C. mesta (Bimli) (5%). The grade-wise break-up percentage of fibre is given in Table 4 and Fig. 2.


T

Fig. 2. Grade-wise beak up percentage of jute fibre in India

he availability of higher grade fibre (grades 1,2 & 3) is not at all adequate needed for manufacturing value-added items like furnishing and soft luggage, which may be expected to fetch at least a few times more net return than conventional products and a majority of these are exportable products. In quantitative terms, the requirement of above mentioned grades for jute industry is around 14.25 lakh bales per annum as against the estimated supply of around 10.45 lakh bales (considering the average production of 95 lakh bales), which indicates a shortfall of around 3.8 lakh bales per annum, a part of which is met through import from Bangladesh. Herein, the interventions of agri-retail majors for upgrading the technological efficiencies to produce better grade fibres by the farmers become important. Since “Better price for better grades” is the key it may be expected that they would not hesitate to procure better grade fibres directly from the farmers of those locations w QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN JUTE AND KENAF FIBRE HSSEN1 FORMER here better grade fibre are produced by paying better price, and also for financial investment to strengthen R & D for raw jute fibre quality improvement. Ongoing research activities on this aspect by the concerned research organizations should make focused and well targeted progress, and agri-retail majors should exercise their option to harvest these recent developments in their favour. Very importantly, industries, on the other hand, should capitalize on the results obtained.


Small and marginal raw jute farmers are ignorant about fibre grades, grading facilities in the market almost non-existent, forcing them almost always to be at the receiving end while bargaining for sale. It is yet another area of concerns for public institutions, as well as for agri-retail majors, for making them conversant with fibre grades and sensitizing those concerned for offering better incentives to the growers for better grade fibres. In brief, in the raw jute fibre trade, agri-retail majors can be a powerful adjunct to the activities of government procurement agency (say, JCI in India) and as well be a strong link between raw jute farmers and jute industry, and between farmers and R & D organizations (Sen and Hazra, 2007).


Trend in quality fibre production

Table. 4. Grade-wise break up percentage of jute fibre in India

I

Grade

Grade-wise break up percentage of jute fibre

1980-85

1985 -90

1992-97

2005

1 & 2

1.27

1.32

1.86

2.00

3

7.79

8.30

9.86

9.00

4

24.29

25.73

28.20

25.00

5

32.92

41.53

40.20

33.00

6

23.69

17.35

14.82

16.00

7 & 8

8.04

5.77

5.06

15.00

Total

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00


t may be seen from Table 4 and Fig. 2 that maximum availability of fibres is so far recorded under grade 5, which is a rather poor or at best average quality, while grade 1, the best quality is extremely scarce or practically unavailable. There is practically no clear cut trend of change observed in grade 1&2, 3 and 4, while for grade 5 after an initial increase a decrease in percent production was observed during the last 5 years. If this trend continues it will suggest a trend for improvement in quality with time. For grade 6 and 7&8 decrease in the percent production has been recorded, except for grade 8, where suddenly a sharp increase was, however, recorded during the last 5 years, the trend of which needs to be observed during the subsequent period. Thus, there was no clear trend in trend in fibre quality change with time observed. In Bangladesh although it was not possible for me to collate information on grade-wise availability of fibres at different periods, however, there is a strong view that the fibre quality is gradually on the decline. This is a serious issue, if correct, but there is a possibility of an artifact or misleading information which might have been borne out of merely an impression of not able to meet the growing demand of diversified products or based on the production data reported in absolute terms and not on the basis of percentage values under different grades. This needs to be examined.


However, we should be sufficiently apprehensive, in view of the need for adequate thrust for production of diversified products requiring improved quality fibres in adequate amounts in future, that even the very fact that there has been ‘no major trend in improvement of fibre quality’ itself is highly discouraging and should be taken seriously for an assured change towards improvement in all our future attempts through research and technology. I will now offer my viewpoints on factors affecting quality improvements, limitations in such attempts, and strategy for the future.


Factors affecting quality jute fibres and goods production and strategies for future improvement

Germplasm enhancement


The germplasm accession for both jute and kenaf, available in both the leading countries, India and Bangladesh, has a narrow genetic base, which is the basic detriment for any attempt to improve its fibre quality.

There is a germplasm depository (Gene Bank) at Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI). This Gene Bank has a capacity of preserving one Lac accessions of germplasm with 200gm volume. At present, in the gene bank of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) there is a collection of total of 5935 accessions preserved in two cells, one set at –20oC and another set is under +4oC. A total of 53 species of fibre producing plants are available, of which 15 species are for Corchorus, 22 for Hibiscus and 16 species for other allied fibres of other genera. For Corchorus, 3344 accessions are from indigenous collection and 737 accessions have been collected by International Jute Organization (IJO). For Hibiscus species, 585 are BJRI collections and 925 are from IJO. Among the allied genera, one accession is from BJRI and 343 accessions are from IJO. About 3000 germplasm have been characterized (Khatun, http://www.jute-org/Documents_Seminar_Workshop_Meeting/Paper).


In India, CRIJAF has a moderate gene pool of around 5000 accessions of jute and allied fibre crops, which is neither sufficient in number, nor satisfactory in terms of their genetic variability, for demand-driven research programmes of the future. The same is true for allied fibre crops also. A lignified phloem fibre deficient (dlpf) mutant of jute has been identified. Germplasm collection from thus far unexplored regions of the country, and particularly the exotic types especially from the centres of origin must be given top priority. Priority-wise direct exploration for exotic types may be launched in countries like Republic of South Africa for jute; Mexico and Brazil for sisal; Mediterranean region, Central Asia and Near East and other European countries for flax; Eastern Asian countries for ramie, and Zaire and Mozambique for roselle (Anon., 2007).

Quality seed availability


Jute seeds are produced mainly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in India far off from major jute fibre growing states (West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Orissa, Bihar) in the country itself, causing violent price fluctuations at times and also non-availability of quality seeds in right time. Feasibility of producing quality seed production in jute fibre growing states may be explored to stabilize jute seed market, whenever the situation demands. Hence, policy measures should be so framed that certified seeds cover at least 55% area of cultivation. Proactive policy measures are needed to advocate newly released varieties amongst seed agencies for their acceptance and adoption by the farmers. Bangladesh is reported to often suffer for the same reason due to poor quality supply of seeds. DUS testing is to be given priority to safeguard the interest of all stakeholders of jute and allied fibre crops, a process which has started in full swing in India, but should also be initiated in other jute growing countries.


Crop improvement through plant breeding, cytogenetics and biotechnology


Following are the leading areas of research on fibre quality improvement (Khatun, http://www.jute-org/Documents_Seminar_Workshop_Meeting/Paper).



Functional genomics: Molecular characterization of genes governing economically important traits like tolerance/ resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, fibre quality (strength, fineness, cellulose and lignin content), fibre development, and efficiency of retting microbes would ultimately lead to precision molecular breeding. As of now, identification of conserved domains, targeted disruption, complementation, cloning followed by constitutive, tissue specific enhanced expression, etc. are all reality in certain important crops, and should be applied for jute and allied fibres.


Bioinformatics: Being a strong adjunct to molecular techniques, bioinformatics would be helpful to construct database for germplasm accessions of jute and allied fibre crops, based on morphological and molecular characterization done by different DNA markers and EST sequences. With concerted efforts to pyramid genes for productivity, fibre quality and resistance to stress along with location specific crop husbandry, the targeted national or even international level of jute and allied fibre crops may be achieved, for which bioinformatics should be of significant help.

Plant ideotype and cellular structure


Unlike grain crops, economic yield in jute and allied fibre crops is a part of the vegetative biomass. Nevertheless, tailoring of more productive (both yield and quality) plant type, genetic engineering of biosynthesis of fibre mass and up-regulation of cellular and metabolic events leading to finer quality fibre may broadly be the factors affecting fibre quality and need careful consideration for improvement in both short and long term perspectives.

It is well known that meshiness is an obstacle to carding process, which is done to break up the fibre sheath, as a preliminary to spinning. The meshy structure of the fibre reed, the meshes or loops vary widely in size, depending on the number of cells, contour and the type of tissues and holes within them, both within and along individual filaments (Bandyopadhyay and Mitra, 1979). In general, coarse meshiness not only lowers fibre quality and weakens the fibre strands during splitting and combing operations during spinning but also makes them unworthy of high value-addition, especially for making specialty yarns. The meshiness originates from (i) tangential expansion and radial growth of the stem, (ii) inability of the fibre bundles to maintain a straight course of development, and (iii) inability of later formed secondary rays to extend to other regions – all inter-related events originating from the activity of the cambium, which is genetically controlled (Mitra and Maiti, 1980; Chen, 1991). It is of significance to note that that genes controlling the formation of secondary phloem fibres are different from those controlling primary phloem or protophloem (Mitra, 1984). Thus, it may be envisaged that genetic manipulation for reducing meshiness is worth attempting for improving fibre quality, a ‘green’ approach, for which mutants and wild species may be considered as potential donors (Hazra and Karmakar, 2008). The length-breadth ratio (L:B) of ultimate fibre cells has a definite bearing on fibre quality. Higher the ratio finer is the fibre. This aspect too needs more concerted research efforts if donors become available for intregation of this trait.

Detailed studies on a jute mutant, ‘deficient lignified phloem fibre’ (dlpf), suggested its usefulness to engineer low-lignin jute variety. Genetical manipulation is a very important approach to achieve the targeted quality improvement. Assemblage of genes on the jute chromosomes is very poorly understood. It is now necessary to focus on developing linkage map of olitorius jute, in particular, to start with, which would help in preparing an integrated map using molecular map data on the species. In kenaf, cytological studies of various inter-specific cross derivatives established the genome constitution of H. cannabinus L., a diploid, indicating a genomic relationship between this species and H. radiatus L. H. sabdariffa L. is however an autotetraploid. It is extremely important to make note of the fact that modern biotechnological methods and tools in combination with traditional approaches through marker assisted selection have the potential to achieve product specific quality improvements in future calling for international network of activities as happened in few other crops mainly cereals.


Production technology: fine tuning


Improved technology package in the lines suggested below, using the appropriate genotypes and improved quality seeds, though available especially for jute and kenaf, needs to be fine-tuned for each agro-ecological situation to address for higher and sustained productivity with improved quality of fibres. Around 65% of total cost of cultivation of raw jute (jute and kenaf) is due to weed management and extraction of fibre by retting. Retting is a natural microbial process carried out conventionally in generally stagnant water bodies containing poor quality water in insufficient quantity. This justifies that these two crucial areas receive top priority for research in crop husbandry. In order to reduce at least 30% of total cost of cultivation; integrated nutrient management (INM) coupled with cost-effective weed management, and improved irrigation management, as well as cost-effective, farmers’ friendly, less time consuming, less water dependent module for fibre extraction-cum-retting are of paramount importance and a practical feasibility. Gradual changes in climate over the years due to greenhouse effect or otherwise may be considered in future research planning in order to safeguard the interest of farmers.

Stress management: Jute is mostly a rainfed crop because only 20% jute area is irrigated, grown mostly by small and marginal farmers (90%), while for kenaf it is grown under more adverse soil conditions. Jute sowing is done with the onset of Norwest shower, and it is very common that the crop encounters drought at the early growth phase or at critical growth stages, and also during retting following harvest of the crop. It may even may face water stagnation at critical crop growing phases. Both these situations affect fibre yield and quality.


Amongst all biotic factors, semilooper, yellow mite, root knot nematode, stem rot in jute; and spiral borer, mealy bug, foot and stem rot in kenaf; are the major ones. Integrated pest management by chemical and biological pesticides needs to be location specific. While exploring antagonistic principles, microbes would be better than chemical means, but the best option is to harness genetic potentials for tolerance/ resistance to biotic stresses.


In this perspective, needless to mention that, on the one hand, it is necessary that introgression breeding by involving genotypes having tolerance to abiotic stress (drought and waterlogging) and biotic stresses (as mentioned above) by conventional breeding be continued in uninterrupted manner, on the other, molecular breeding (QTLs using RILs & NILs), a potential supplement, may be undertaken for stress management.


The inherent tolerance/ resistance to stress will be thus the most economic component of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) modules for jute and allied fibre crops for sustained productivity and quality enhancement.


Retting practice: The traditional retting practice has a number of limitations, viz. (1) time and labour consuming, (2) inadquate availability of good quality water in large amount, preferably as streams, (3) non-ecofriendliness and often hazardousness to health, (5) cost-ineffectiveness, (6) non-userfriendliness, and (7) lack of precise control on the quality of fibre produced. There are a number of improved retting practices advocated mainly from Bangladesh and India to overcome these constraints using diversified approaches. These are mainly modified mechanical extraction/ stripping combined with either or a combination of chemical, biochemical, microbiological or enzymatic method. Retting is a significant factor controlling the quality of fibre produced, whatsoever is the basic technology or improved variety/ plant type used, and adoption of an improved method of retting should depend on rigorous field testing.

Summary of future research strategies


Issues

Strategies

Crop improvement with special reference to biotic & abiotic stress for improvement of targeted quality traits

Characterization of germplasm both at morphological and molecular level and genetic divergence analysis, evaluation for economically important characters and cataloguing / documentation leading to registration of identified germplasm; genetic resource management with GIS and RS technology

Enhanced utilization of germplasm resources through introgression of desirable traits from genotypes of cultivated and wild species; development of pre-breeding materials to broaden the genetic base of cultivars. Study on jute & kenaf genome through an international collaborative programme

Development of improved varieties through utilization of pre-breeding materials. Integrating marker assisted selection in the conventional breeding programme involving hybridization and mutagenesis to improve its efficacy

Development of transgenic for resistance to abiotic stress and better quality parameters for diversified uses

Genetic manipulation of lignin biosynthesis for achieving improved fibre fineness and other desirable technical characteristics

Improved technology package for improved quality fibres

Package of interculture operations with special emphasis on weed and water management for quality fibre production

Quality disease free and higher seed production technology

Soil fertility management with special attention to use of locally available organics and biofertilizers for quality improvement in fibres

Crop weather interaction study for forecasting of growth behaviour and quality fibre production

Developing appropriate plant protection measures for addressing quality improvement traits

Weather based model with refinement for forecasting of important pest & disease outbreak and their impact on fibre quality

Systematic characterization and improvement of beneficial microbes through biotechnological interventions for quality improvement in fibres

Identification of efficient local strains of antagonistic microbes for disease control, mass scale production of bioagents for quality improvement

Development of a cost-effective, eco-friendly and socially compatible protocol in IPM for quality improvement

Post-harvest operations for improved quality of fibres with special attention to meeting industrial demands

Development of appropriate mechanical/ microbial/ biotechnological intervention for faster and improved retting for production of improved quality jute & kenaf fibres, and appropriate storage practices for its long term maintenance


Processing technologies

The principal factors affecting technological upgadation for production of quality yarns and jute goods may be summarized as follows.

Limitations and suggested thrust areas for quality improvement

The bottom line in as far as the future prospect of raw jute sector is concerned is that the respective government in each country as well as the stakeholders have to take a significant leap forward in mindset, policies with a clear cut positive direction not for merely a better economy of the various stakeholders involved, but for the fact of their very survival. The sector is now confronted, much more than ever before, with stiff competition from synthetics, and with the WTO regime in place the concerned stakeholders need to be much more focused to gear up in the right perspectives. The focus is to concentrate increasingly more in a phased manner for production of the value-added diversified products for inroads into the market. The processes in this direction have fairly been understood and partly implemented, but it is always wise to identify and prioritize the limitations for planned and much larger implementation of the same. Much of them has been discussed above but I attempt below listing down the salient limitations of generic nature, not strictly priority-wise, and making possible suggestions to alleviate them. One should, however, admit that the cultivation of both these crops is not always cost-effective, and for the basic ingredient, i.e. the raw fibre to be available for quality production, it is the production technology on priori which must be first of all addressed to make it much more cost-effective than what it is now.

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20



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