‘Jute will be alternative to cotton’

Having sequenced the DNA of the traditional variety of jute, Bangladeshi scientists are now working to develop the golden fibre that can be an alternative to cotton.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 August 2013, 07:03 PM
Updated : 19 August 2013, 07:07 PM

Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) Director General Kamal Uddin told bdnews24.com on Monday: “We’ve identified the barrier to making jute usable as the alternative to cotton. Now our task is to get over the barrier.”

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced at a press conference that Bangladeshi scientists, led by Dr Maqsudul Alam, have sequenced the genome of the local variety of jute having already unravelled the genome for ‘Tosha’ jute.

Dr Alam, a microbiology professor at Hawaii University in the US, and his team shot to global fame after they discovered the genome sequence for ‘Tosha’ jute -- the Jute Plant Draft Genome – in June, 2010.

Their triumph continued as they sequenced the DNA make-up of a fungus, Macrophomina Phaseolina, which reduces yield of more than 500 species of crops including jute, soyabean, cotton, tobacco, maize and sunflower.

BJRI convened a press conference on Monday to divulge the discovery in its jute research.

After the press meet, Kamal Uddin told bdnews24.com that Bangladesh, which met 97 percent of its cotton need from overseas markets, was the second largest importer of cotton.

He expects Bangladesh’s import of cotton to reduce to a large extent when jute can substitute for cotton.

Claiming that BJRI succeeded to make different products using equal percentage of cotton and jute, Kamal said a new horizon would open up following the genome sequencing.

BJRI researcher Dr Alam sequenced the genome of CVL-1, a local variety of jute, which was released to the farmers in 1977.
Saris and cloths made using equal amount of cotton and jute were shown at the press conference.
Bangladesh applied for five basic patents on the jute research discoveries, he said. “The world can no more ignore Bangladesh.”
He said three lawyers were working for Bangladesh to have registered patent of the discoveries under a project, Basic and Applied Research on Jute.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is supervising the patent affairs.
Asked how much time the research results might take to reach the farmers, Alam said: “We hope we can complete the research in five years.”
Another researcher, Samiul Hasan, said crossbreeding of traditional variety and Tosha was not possible in traditional method. “Now it (crossbreeding) will be possible after the genome sequencing.”