Mashiur Rahman Selim, Cumilla (South)

The glory of jute, once proudly celebrated as the 'golden fiber,' is rapidly fading across the southern region of Cumilla. Local farmers are steadily losing interest in jute cultivation, while businesses increasingly shun jute packaging due to administrative inertia.

Local residents allege that the relevant government departments have turned into silent spectators, allowing this traditional sector to collapse entirely.

This decline persists despite various state initiatives to revitalize the industry. To boost the sector, the government previously honored 11 individuals and organizations on National Jute Day for their contributions to jute development. Currently, the authorities are distributing agricultural inputs to farmers across five upazilas in south Cumilla. However, local agricultural experts emphasize that a true revival requires reducing reliance on imported seeds, achieving self-sufficiency through domestic production technologies, and aggressively expanding the manufacturing of diversified jute goods.

From the pre-1952 Language Movement era up until 1977, raw jute trading served as the economic backbone for the people of this region, with vast fields stretching across the horizon.

Following independence, Bangladeshi jute faced robust international demand, supplying public mills run by the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) as well as private sectors. However, the subsequent phase-out and closure of numerous jute mills triggered a massive crash in local cultivation, causing farmers to look for alternative crops. Although rising environmental awareness during the ongoing monsoon season has slightly renewed enthusiasm among local growers, market volatility and selling complexities continue to present major hurdles.

Local economists point out that jute remains deeply intertwined with rural culture and is historically recognized as a tool for economic emancipation. Although previous governments provided gratuities and safety nets through golden handshakes to workers of 25 closed state-owned mills while trying to promote jute goods, the macro-contribution of the sector has shrunk drastically. Jute's share in Bangladesh's total export earnings has plummeted from a historic 90 percent to a meager 3 percent.

Furthermore, the implementation of the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010, which was enacted to modernize the industry and compel the use of eco-friendly sacks, has completely stalled at the local level. Local rice mills and wholesale commodity markets are currently flooded with prohibited synthetic and rexine sacks. Unscrupulous traders openly operate this illegal trade because of a total lack of monitoring by local authorities.

The plight of marginal jute farmers mirrors that of small-scale paddy growers. Burdened by family expenses and accumulated debts at the start of the season, these smallholders are forced to sell their yields prematurely at throwaway prices to exploiting trader syndicates.

As a result, once-famous commercial jute hubs, including the historic Laksam Daulatganj Bazar, have lost their traditional bustle. Despite strict statutory bans on polythene bags and clear mandates for using jute packaging, trading syndicates continue to bypass the law while local administrations and mobile courts remain mysteriously inactive.