<P> On the other hand, it is used mainly for its fiber in Bangladesh, in other countries in Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific . Tossa jute fiber is softer, silkier, and stronger than white jute . This variety astonishingly shows good sustainability in the climate of the Ganges Delta . Along with white jute, tossa jute has also been cultivated in the soil of Bengal where it is known as paat from the start of the 19th century . Coremantel, Bangladesh is the largest global producer of the tossa jute variety . </P> <P> For centuries, jute has been an integral part of the culture of East Bengal and some parts of West Bengal, precisely in the southwest of Bangladesh . Since the seventeenth century the British started trading in jute . During the reign of the British Empire jute was also used in the military . British jute barons grew rich processing jute and selling manufactured products made from jute . Dundee Jute Barons and the British East India Company set up many jute mills in Bengal and by 1895 jute industries in Bengal overtook the Scottish jute trade . Many Scots emigrated to Bengal to set up jute factories . More than a billion jute sandbags were exported from Bengal to the trenches during World War I and also exported to the United States southern region to bag cotton . It was used in the fishing, construction, art and the arms industry . Initially, due to its texture, it could only be processed by hand until it was discovered in Dundee that by treating it with whale oil, it could be treated by machine . The industry boomed throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries ("jute weaver" was a recognised trade occupation in the 1900 UK census), but this trade had largely ceased by about 1970 due to the emergence of synthetic fibers . In the 21st century, jute again rose to be an important crop for export around the world in contrast to synthetic fiber, mainly from Bangladesh </P> <P> The jute fiber comes from the stem and ribbon (outer skin) of the jute plant . The fibers are first extracted by retting . The retting process consists of bundling jute stems together and immersing them in slow running water . There are two types of retting: stem and ribbon . After the retting process, stripping begins; women and children usually do this job . In the stripping process, non-fibrous matter is scraped off, then the workers dig in and grab the fibers from within the jute stem . </P> <P> Jute is a rain - fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides, in contrast to cotton's heavy requirements . Production is concentrated mostly in Bangladesh, as well as India's states of Assam, Bihar, and West Bengal . India is the world's largest producer of jute, but imported approximately 162,000 tonnes of raw fiber and 175,000 tonnes of jute products in 2011 . India, Pakistan, and China import significant quantities of jute fiber and products from Bangladesh, as do the United Kingdom, Japan, United States, France, Spain, Ivory Coast, Germany and Brazil . </P>

Which part of the jute plant is used to make fibre