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Natural Fibre Jute or Hessian Bags & Cotton Bags

The information below has been reproduced courtesy of the International Year of Natural Fibres web site. To see a sensational jute video and learn more of the International Year of Natural Fibres go to our web site at Albury Enviro Bags. To see our range of jute bags see our Environmentally Friendly Green Calico & Jute Bags or our Natural Jute Bags & Calico Bags Range. To learn more about the advantages of jute bags check our article Natural Jute Shopping Bags or Synthetic Polypropylene Plastic? Promoter's Paradise Pty Ltd would like to thank the FAO for their kind permission to reproduce their logo and information.

Official Launch

The International Year of Natural Fibres was officially launched on 22 January 2009, at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome.

Objectives

• Raise awareness and stimulate demand for natural fibres;
• Promote the efficiency and sustainability of the natural fibres industries;
• Encourage appropriate policy responses from governments to the problems faced by natural fibre industries;
• Foster an effective and enduring international partnership among the various natural fibres industries.

Why are natural fibres important?

Some 30 million tonnes of natural fibres are produced annually. Natural fibres form an important component of clothing, upholstery and other textiles. Many of them also have industrial applications - in packaging, papermaking and in composite materials with many uses, including as parts in automobiles. In many developing countries, proceeds from the sale and export of natural fibres contribute significantly to the income and the food security of poor farmers and those working in fibre processing and marketing. For some developing countries, natural fibres are of major economic importance: for example, cotton in some West African countries, jute in Bangladesh and sisal in Tanzania. In other cases, fibres are of less significance at the national level but are of major local importance, as in the case of jute in West Bengal (India) and sisal in north-east Brazil.

Why an International Year of Natural Fibres?

Since the 1960s, the use of synthetic fibres has increased, and natural fibres have lost a lot of their market share. Producers and processors of natural fibres face the challenge of developing and maintaining markets in which they can compete effectively with synthetics. In some cases, this has involved defining and promoting market niches. In others, where their natural advantages allow them to compete effectively with synthetics, basic research and development is needed to facilitate the use of natural fibres in new applications. The main goal of the International Year of Natural Fibres is to raise the profile of these fibres and to emphasise their value to consumers while helping to sustain the incomes of the farmers. In addition, the International Year will:
* promote the efficiency and sustainability of the natural fibres industries; * encourage appropriate policy responses from governments to the problems faced by natural fibre industries; * foster an effective and enduring international partnership among the various natural fibres industries.

Who decided that 2009 would be the International Year of Natural Fibres?

The idea came from a meeting of fibre producing and consuming countries in FAO. At the request of FAO, the declaration of 2009 as International Year of Natural Fibres was made by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 20 December 2006.

Who will coordinate the International Year?

There is a coordinating unit in FAO, but a great many other organizations and people will be involved. An International Steering Committee, with representatives from various fibre organisations, consumer bodies, and funding agencies, will meet from time to time to guide the programme. Most of the activities will be organized by IYNF partners, some at the international level, and many more within individual countries.

Natural fibres Ancient fabrics, high-tech geotextiles

Natural fibres are greatly elongated substances produced by plants and animals that can be spun into filaments, thread or rope. Woven, knitted, matted or bonded, they form fabrics that are essential to society. Like agriculture, textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the dawn of civilization. Fragments of cotton articles dated from 5000 BC have been excavated in Mexico and Pakistan. According to Chinese tradition, the history of silk begins in the 27th century BC. The oldest wool textile, found in Denmark, dates from 1500 BC, and the oldest wool carpet, from Siberia, from 500 BC. Fibres such as jute and coir have been cultivated since antiquity. While the methods used to make fabrics have changed greatly since then, their functions have changed very little: today, most natural fibres are still used to make clothing and containers and to insulate, soften and decorate our living spaces. Increasingly, however, traditional textiles are being used for industrial purposes as well as in components of composite materials, in medical implants, and geo- and agro-textiles. In this section we present profiles of 15 of the world's major plant and animal fibres. They range from cotton, which dominates world fibre production, to other, specialty fibres such as cashmere which, though produced in far smaller quantities, have particular properties that place them in the luxury textiles market.

Jute

What is it?

Extracted from the stem and outer skin of the plants Corchorus capsularis and C. olitorius, jute is one of nature's strongest vegetable fibres and ranks second only to cotton in terms of production quantity and range of uses. During the Industrial Revolution, jute yarn became an important source of sackcloth - known variously as hessian, burlap and gunny - that largely replaced flax and hemp fibres grown in Europe. Today, sacking still makes up the bulk of manufactured jute products. But a host of innovative "diversified" products with high value-addition have also been developed - floor coverings, jute composites, geotextiles, nonwovens, paper pulp, technical textiles, chemical products, apparel, handicrafts and fashion accessories.

Who produces it?

The jute plant flourishes in humid climates with temperatures between 24 and 38 degrees Celsius, and a minimum annual rainfall of 1000 mm - climatic conditions that have made Bangladesh and West Bengal in India the world's main jute producers. Myanmar and Nepal produce much smaller quantities. Jute is a small farmer's crop. In India and Bangladesh it is estimated that some 4 million farmers earn their living - and support 20 million dependents - from jute cultivation, while hundreds of thousands work in the jute manufacturing sector. Farmers sell fibre either to dealers who visit their home, or at local markets. The fibre may change hands a number of times through merchants, often being graded or re-graded in the process, before reaching mills or exporters.

How is it produced?

Jute cultivation is labour-intensive, but requires relatively small quantities of other inputs, such as fertilizer and pesticides. Jute is usually harvested by hand, since mechanical harvesting is not appropriate on small plots in developing countries. Stems are cut close to the ground and left in the field for a few days to defoliate, before being tied in bundles to be retted - the stems are immersed in gently flowing water to remove pectinals and other mucilaginous substances over a period of one to three weeks. Retting is complete when the outer bast layer of the stem, which contains the fibres, separates easily from the inner woody core. The fibre is stripped from the stem, usually by hand, then washed and dried.

How much is produced?

Jute production fluctuates from year to year, influenced by weather conditions and prices. In recent years, annual output has ranged from 2.3 to 2.8 million tonnes, on a par with wool production. However, the value of jute is far less - an estimated $480 million. India produces 60 percent of the world's jute, with Bangladesh accounting for most of the rest. Bangladesh exports around half its annual production as raw fibre, and half as manufactured items. India exports only 200 000 tonnes of jute products, the remainder being consumed domestically.

What are the prospects for jute?

Prospects for jute products have brightened worldwide as manufacturers are increasingly searching for environment friendly and biodegradable materials to replace synthetic products. However, jute producers and processors have made very limited innovations in production and processing technologies.