By our Special Correspondent
Coimbatore: Jute production is expected to drop by 20 per cent this fiscal, according to Shashi Bhushan Singh,.
Secretary of the national Jute Board. Singh was here recently for an exposition organized by the Board that cultivation was affected in West Bengal and Asom on account of natural calamities this year. Floods had damaged the crop in some areas, adversely affecting the production.
There was potential to touch Rs 4,500 crore in annual jute exports. It was Rs 3000 crore last financial year and was projected to be almost Rs 3500 crore during the current fiscal, he added.
The Board was preparing a draft for Jute Technology Mission 2. 0 and held meetings with stakeholders. It was also supporting research projects find more applications for jute. Laboratory testing was completed for extracting ethanol from jute plants, he said.
It was estimated one tonne of jute plant would given 495 litre of ethanol. There were plans to set up a pilot unit. Another project was to make jute composite materials, Singh said.
