Jagatdal (India) (AFP)

Natural jute fiber, of which India is the world's largest producer, is experiencing a global comeback which is expected to increase with the exponential demand for sustainable alternatives to plastics, experts say, believing that the only market for bags could weigh 2.5 billion euros by 2024.

Noticed in the clothing lines of great Indian designers like Ashish Soni and Pawan Aswani, jute fiber has also appeared in the boutiques of luxury brands such as Christian Dior, and even at the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, where jute bags stamped with the initials H&M were offered to the guests.

Jute is more and more "trendy".

Almost all of the world's jute crops are found in West Bengal (eastern India) and Bangladesh, favored by a humid climate.

They require minimal water and fertilizer, and give better yields with harvests only every four months.

Everything is good in the jute plant, nothing to throw away: the outer layer of the stem produces the fiber, the woody inner stem is used for making paper, while its leaves are edible.

Workers in a jute mill in Jagatdal, India, March 19, 2021 Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

- Ecological plant -

Jute is all the more praised by environmentalists as its crops recycle carbon.

"One hectare of jute crops can absorb up to about 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide and release 11 tonnes of oxygen in a season, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Swati Singh Sambyal , an expert in sustainability and circular economy based in New Delhi.

Cotton, the most abundant natural fiber in the world, ahead of jute, requires twice as much cultivable land and much more water and chemicals.

It is to the British East India Company that we owe the discovery and exploitation of jute fiber in India in the 18th century, then its introduction in Europe where it did not experience real success until the 1860s. , with its bags intended for the transport of food seeds.

A worker in a jute mill in Jagatdal, India, March 19, 2021 Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

India's jute industry remained strong until the advent of cheaper synthetic substitutes in the 1990s and fierce competition from neighboring Bangladesh for cheap labor.

- An obsolete industry -

India is now trying to promote jute as a future, environmentally friendly textile, in the hope of capitalizing on the disaffection with plastic.

According to a recent report by Research and Markets, the global jute bag market was worth $ 1.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to be worth € 2.5 billion by 2024 as consumers shy away from single-use plastic.

Workers unload bales of jute at a spinning mill in Jagatdal, India, March 19, 2021 Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

The Indian government now requires that all food grains and 20% of the sugar be packed in burlap bags.

But to meet the global demand for diversified jute-based products, the now obsolete industry must transform the entire production chain on a large scale, according to Indian experts.

It's about modernizing farming practices, improving the skills of the workforce and launching new products, says Gouranga Kar, director of the Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers.

"This is a major concern for us," he admits.

- Create new products -

"Our scientists have developed many varieties offering a yield of over 40 quintals per hectare, but the (current) average yield is 24-25 quintals per hectare," he regrets.

Gouranga Kar, director of the Jute Research Institute, shows different types of natural fibers on March 19, 2021 in Barrackpore, India Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

Factory owners in Jagatdal district are optimistic about the new development of their industry.

"Jute has a great future (...) the government must therefore focus on this sector," Supriya Das, president of Meghna Jute Mills, one of the 70 factories in West Bengal, told AFP.

There, hundreds of workers, in rags, carry out their task, spinning the fiber, taking turns to the rhythm of the three-eight, on old machines that seem to date from the industrial revolution, installed in a huge dilapidated hangar.

"Jute has enormous potential on the international market", continues the boss, with a caveat: "the industry will not be viable if we do not introduce value-added products".

© 2021 AFP