Free flowing water retting holds the key for quality jute fibre production in minimal water and maintenance of water quality

Abstract

Abstract Conventional retting of jute universally followed by the jute growers is characterized by higher water requirement, production of lower quality jute fibre and degradation of water quality from the environmental point of view. Among the improved retting methods evaluated under this study reflect that the free flowing water retting requires only 7135 litres of water for 1 quintal jute fibre production compared to 25,840 litres in conventional retting because of recirculation of the water after filtration. Free flowing water retting also recorded very low BOD (45.1 mg/l), COD (157.6 mg/l), and hardness (65 ppm) content in post-retting water which were significantly lower than the values recorded in conventional retting. Except pH, all other water quality parameters like EC, BOD, COD, Ca + Mg, bicarbonate, chloride and hardness values in post-retting water increased significantly compared to the pre-retting water in all the retting methods. Use of microbial consortium “CRIJAF SONA” helped to reduce the retting duration by 6 to 10 days in improved retting methods along with improvement in fibre quality parameters like fibre strength, fibre fineness, reduced root content etc. as compared to the conventional retting where no microbial consortium was used. The fibre yield in free flowing water retting was higher by 7.5, 6.0 and 22.4% respectively, over stagnant water retting in concrete retting tank, in-situ retting and conventional retting because of higher fibre recovery as a result of favourable condition for microbial growth and their enzymatic activity. The post-retting water in each retting methods recorded significantly higher nutrient content than their respective pre-retting water contents. Free flowing water retting along with in-situ retting and stagnant water retting in concrete tank recorded significantly higher polygalacturonase, pectin lyase and xylanase activities than conventional retting because of use of microbial consortium. Free flowing water retting proved to be the most vibrant jute retting method with very low water requirement and also maintains post-retting water quality along with higher fibre recovery and improved fibre quality.