Jute's glory would soon be revived. Scientists at the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute have developed a higher yielding, better quality jute that they are calling the 'Tossa' variety. The new variety will yield 3.18 tonnes of jute per hectare against 2.97 tonnes of the existing varieties.
Today, jute in the country faces stiff competition from cheaper and more durable synthetics. Despite this, Bangladesh earns over US $400 million a year from jute exports. Farmers also prefer to cultivate rice, the main staple for Bangladesh's 130 million people, for which they get a better return than jute. But the new jute variety has given a new lease of life to this cash crop.
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