JCI expected to procure at least 50% more raw fibre in the FY'24: Offical

The Jute Corporation of India (JCI) is expected to procure at least 50 per cent more raw fibre in the current jute year (2023-24) than the previous year, in the wake of a bumper season of the crop, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The JCI is mandated by the government to carry out Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations for raw jute from farmers. This year, the average MSP price is Rs 5,050 per quintal.

"In the current jute crop year of 2023-24, which began on July 1, raw jute procurement is very high. As of mid-September, we have already procured 2.30 lakh quintals. We expect the operation to run for the entire year and the total procurement to be over 50 per cent, or 6-7 lakh quintals over the previous year," JCI General Manager K Mazumdar told PTI.

In the last fiscal jute season, the JCI procured a record 4.34 lakh quintals of jute.

"This year is a bumper jute crop and production is expected to be 91 lakh bales," Mazumdar said.

He said that 110 direct JCI procurement centres are operational and another 25 outsourced ones are active. The JCI's MSP procurement is directly from farmers and this operation protects farmers from distress sales.

The JCI said it will absorb any quantity that comes directly from farmers without any limit or ceiling.

To protect farmers, the Indian government has imposed anti-dumping duty on jute and sacking from Bangladesh.