Kolkata: The Jute Corporation of India Limited (JCI) on July 29 celebrated its inaugural Jute Day at its Lalbagh centre in Murshidabad, marking 54 years of service to the country’s jute farmers. A parallel programme was held at Patsan Bhawan in Kolkata.
At the main event in Lalbagh, progressive farmers were felicitated by Jute Commissioner Moloy Chandan Chakraborty, IDAS, and JCI Managing Director and National Jute Board Secretary Shashi Bhushan Singh, IRTS. A workshop titled “Transforming Jute Grading from Subjective to Smart System” was also held at Sargachi Ramakrishna Mission in Murshidabad.
An issued statement read that established in 1971, JCI’s primary mandate is to support jute farmers through Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations during market downturns. In 2024–25, JCI procured over 5.05 lakh quintals of raw jute worth Rs 252.38 crore. For the ongoing crop year 2025–26, starting July 1, the government has fixed the MSP for TD-3 grade jute at Rs 5,650 per quintal. Variety and grade-wise MSPs for Tossa, White and Mesta/Bimli types have also been notified.
The corporation publicises MSP rates through loudspeaker announcements, leaflets, display charts and press communications to ensure wide farmer awareness. Under the Jute-ICARE scheme, now in its 11th phase, over 5.6 lakh farmers are receiving support for improving jute yield and quality. A geospatial monitoring system is being developed with NRSC-ISRO to estimate jute acreage and output via the PATSAN module. JCI is introducing blockchain for supply chain management and is developing an e-auction platform for raw jute. It has also launched PAAT-MITRO App to provide farmers with MSP details, centre locations, advisories and payment tracking.
Efforts are underway to reduce subjectivity in grading through portable and AI-enabled instruments.
The corporation has also set up grading labs, inducted apprentices and exported leno fabric to New Zealand.