PJMA to provide farmers free of cost jute seeds

Pakistan Jute Mills Association (PJMA) will support the local farmers by providing free-of-cost jute seeds to encourage them towards its production. The PJMA will also arrange a seminar on jute farming and its prospects. The seminar is meant to boost farmers' interest towards adoption of jute as another cash crop.
The seminar will be organised in the last week of November by Agronomic Research Institute Faisalabad in Muzaffargarh. According to the sources, the experts will highlight the adoption of latest jute farming technology, its benefits and business opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs of agriculture sector.
They will brief about the viability of jute-production in the season of Kharif and methods to attain optimum production in the short sowing season in the months of April to July, sources said. The free distribution of jute seeds would encourage the farmers to benefit from non-traditional but profitable cash crop in different agriculture lands of the country. The farmers would also be guided through agricultural experts during cultivation cycle of jute crop.
According to PJMA, the seminar sponsor, the aim of the seminar is to highlight the importance of jute as environment friendly plants, which can not only become a cash crop but will also provide assistance to the farmers in growing other crops by bringing more fertility to the soil. They said that AARI would also provide guidance material for jute farming and its popular technical cultivation methods among the farmers.
The sponsors said that the seminar is being organised to create awareness about the great potential for jute production in Pakistan, which can save country's billions of rupees foreign exchange spent on importing jute from jute-rich countries and would also help in safe storage of crops through jute bags removing chances of threats to human health posed by usage of health hazardous polypropylene bags.
They informed that there are 12 jute mills in Pakistan producing various made-ups for local and export markets such as jute bags, carpets, floor-mats and curtain sheets. Pakistan spends $105 million annually on the imports of jute from Bangladesh. These mills incur heavy losses on imports when due to high demand the prices in global markets are increased, they added.
They said that local availability of jute would ensure minimising the use of polypropylene bags for wheat and grain storage. The polypropylene bags, purchased in huge numbers by provincial governments, not only put the storage at risk due to short life span but also pose threats to human health due to ultra violet rays of the sun and deteriorate the quality of the stored grain inside.
They pointed out that disposing the polypropylene bags after one use is hazardous. The material, they added, does not decompose and burning it, pollutes the atmosphere. On the other hand, jute bags decompose easily and become the part of the soil. Pakistan is considered a large buyer of jute in the world; they said, however, India and China are its competitors with heavy purchase. Besides, Britain, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and Brazil also import raw jute from Bangladesh and India.
They said that the jute mills in Pakistan have taken a commendable step as they are promoting jute farming among local farmers especially in Punjab and offering various incentives to the farmers. Experts opined that Pakistan will set to achieve self-sufficiency in jute productions gradually if the farming is encouraged at local level by the concerned ministry, industrialists, agriculture development and local banks through different schemes.