The country's geotextile market has crossed Tk 7.0-billion mark in recent years, ushering in possibility for massive extension of its export, according to agriculture minister Prof Dr Abdus Shahid.
He said the market has been expanding as the use of the product has become mandatory as a necessary raw material for the construction of local governments and rural development, railway, road and other departments.
The minister said this at a seminar styled 'Success and Potential of Genome Centre for Jute Research' hosted by the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) in Dhaka on Monday.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) executive chairman Dr Sheikh Mohammad Bakhtiar and BJRI director general Dr MA Awal also spoke.
Dr Shahid says the demand for eco-friendly and durable jute-made geotextile has been increasing globally as an alternative to 'metal netting' or synthetic geotextile made from polymer.
China is the main importer of jute black ash (charcoal) from Bangladesh, according to him.
Charcoal is also being exported to Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Brazil.
The minister said jute was the main cash crop of Bangladesh in the eighties as an estimated 75 per cent of the foreign exchange was earned by exporting jute.
Apparel has overtaken jute. Yet, jute is still the second-highest export sector.
"Our government has declared jute as an agricultural product and businesses are getting facility of it."
Although the use of synthetic fibre (polyethylene) has increased vastly, Dr Bakhtiar said, sustainable development today has recreated a huge demand for eco-friendly jute and jute products worldwide.
Bangladeshi jute is now used in the western world for car manufacturing, paper and pulp, insulation industry, geotextile, health care, footwear, aircraft, computer body-making, electronics, marine and sports industries.
"But we have not yet become self-sufficient in jute seeds as maximum demand is met through import," asserted Dr Bakhtiar.
Dr Awal of the BJRC under the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) said the government prioritised cutting import reliance on jute seed, achieving self-sufficiency and growing more raw jute on lesser amount of land.
He presented a keynote paper at the programme.
According to the paper, jute production increased to 8.4 million bales in 2023 from 5.1 million bales in 2015, 3.3 million bales surge in last one decade.
It has been possible, thanks to the adoption of jute-friendly policies by the government.
An estimated 4.3-million bales of jute and jute products worth nearly $1.0 billion are being exported per year.
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