Introduction

Jute Research Program is one of the commodity programs of Nepal Agricultural Research Council. Historically Jute Research and Development Program was initiated in 1970 with the establishment of the Nepal Jute Development Board (NJDB). Prior to 1973 the research works on Jute crop were carried out at the Tarahara Agriculture Station (TAS) which covered a few varieties of Jute, agronomic trials and seed multiplication. In 1974, the Nepal Jute Development Board was replaced by the Jute Development and Trading Corporation (JDTC). This organization was primarily responsible for the over all development of jute sector in the country. With the set up of the Jute Research Centre (JRC), Jute Development and Trading Corporation started all research activities at Itahari in the year 1978. Subsequently, JDTC dissolved in July 1993. The Jute Research Centre was handed over to the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC) and all the responsibilities of Jute Research and Development program was given to the Jute Research Program (JRP) and started its research activities under NARC umbrella system since July 1993.

Jute is a tropical crop which produces bast fibre. The fibre is obtained from two closely related annual herbaceous species i.e. Corchorus capsularis L and C. olitorius L. belonging to the family tiliacea. Jute is an important cash crop for subsistence farmers in Nepal. It has major share in the economy of the country. It is grown in terai belt and concentrated in the eastern part of Mechi, Koshi and Sagarmatha Zones. It is believed to be a traditional crop of these areas. Nepal produces 17100 metric tons of raw jute from 11975 hectares of land in 2005/06. The average productivity of jute was 1.5 tons/ha. Annex 1 present the area, production and productivity of jute in Nepal during last 35 years. Where as district wise area, production and productivity of jute in Nepal is shown in Table 3. Ecologically Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari, Siraha and Udaypur are recorded the main jute growing districts. Now a days, jute production in Nepal has been affected due to competition against spring rice, sugarcane, maize, tea,  vegetables etc. On the other hand due to unstable and low price of the raw jute, jute area has been consistently shifting towards marginal existence. Research activities on jute are the utmost importance because the area and production have remained on the decreasing trend due to uneconomic return from jute. The existing cultivars are of age old, narrow genetic bases, low adaptability to agro ecological settings. With the advancement of research, high yielding varieties could be developed  and introduced for the replacement of existing low yielding varieties and emphasize on crop management research so as to make remarkable increase in the productivity of jute fibre.

Mandate and Objectives

The main mandate to this program is to generate appropriate technologies for higher productivity of jute in the country. Other mandates include :

• Collection, characterization, conservation, assessment and utilization of jute genetic resources of both indigenous and exotic. 
• Assessment of jute production problems and potential periodically in jute producing districts of eastern terai of Nepal and define and prioritize research agenda in collaboration with AARS, Jute producers, industries and central disciplinary divisions.
• Development and conduction of applied and adaptive, problem solving and potential exploration experiments on jute and generate varieties, production package of practices, and insects' pests control measures. Research programs would include both on station and on farm.
• Develop techniques/technologies in jute processing that enhance fibre quality of jute.
• Produce breeders and foundation seed, and provide technological and training support to private jute seed producers.
• Act as repository center of information on jute production technologies.
• Extend expertise and consultancy on jute production technology.
• Establish linkage with National/Regional/International Jute Research Agencies for exchange of expertise, research materials and collaborative research.
• Collaborate with other crop/commodity research programs during off-season of jute for research and seed production.
• Establish strong linkage with jute grower, traders and industries for obtaining research funds, cooperation and contract research.
• Assist NARC in formulating jute research and production policy.
• Publish research findings and recommendations of latest technologies and collaborate with extension agency for their dissemination.

Research Strategy             

• Development of high yielding and quality fibre producing varieties of jute through participatory varietal selection (PVS) approach for different eco system.
• Development of need based low cost technology in production and processing of jute fiber.
• Development of suitable retting techniques for quality fiber production in water scarce areas.
• Development of jute production technology for marginal land and rain-fed condition.
• Develop integrated weed management(IWM) and IPM technology to reduce the cost of production.

Researchers

• Mr Tara Bahadur Ghimire, Senior Scientist
• Mr Yukti Prasad Yadav, Technical Officer

Contact

Coordinator
National Jute Research Program
Itahari, Sunsari, Nepal
PO Box: 5459 Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977-25-581018  Fax: 977-25-
Email:
Website: www.narc.org.np