Problems and Prospects of Technology Transfer in the Jute Sector of Bangladesh: A Study on Jute and Cotton Blended Textile Products

Jute, the golden liber of Bangladesh, has been losing its market to synthetic fiber and paper over the years. To bring back the golden days of jute, one should focus on the textile sector as that has the greatest potential to increase the market demand of lute. But the biggest problem in expanding the market base of jute had been the failure [o transfer technology from the research organizations to the business organizations of Bangladesh. Scientific research shows that jute blended with cotton has a good prospect of being used in shopping bags, textile apparels (i.e. clothes), home textiles (e.g. curtain, bed cover, table cloth, sofa cover etc ), and other fashionable consumer products. By transferring the technologies of these products to the production units of business enterprises, market scenario of jute can be drastically improved. But this bright prospect of technology transfer has not yet been materialized because of some serious problems like lack of financial support to the entrepreneurs, delay in forming an organization mandated to work for technology transfer, negligence in marketing activities, and lack of specific policy. There are other problems too like inadequate infrastructure of science & technology, and poor implementation of intellectual property rights; which are indirectly hindering technology transfer in the jute sector of Bangladesh.