Mallow as a substitute for jute in Brazil

From success to failure

Abstract

In this text we will describe the historical course of the use of mallow (Urena lobata L.) in Brazil. This plant composes our national flora and is the perfect lookalike of jute (Corchorus olitorius and Corchorus capsularis), of Indian origin. The main goal of this paper is to produce knowledge about the process of use of this plant aiming at the production of fibers for the manufacture of sacks to pack agricultural products. In addition, they might have other uses in weaving. To do so, we analyze the historical context of the first attempts to cultivate mallow in Brazil, occurred between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, and we examine the current context of cultivation of this plant, carried out in the northeast of Pará. In this region there is, fundamentally, the collection and/or cultivation of mallow to produce seeds and, in the state of Amazonas, cultivation takes place aiming at the production of fibers. The methodology used to produce this study was documentary research, in the archives of three of the main agricultural research institutions in the country: IAC, ESALQ, and Embrapa Amazônia Oriental. The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that mallow has practically replaced jute in the Amazon, not because there are differences in the production process or in the efficiency and quality of its fibers, but on account of the abandonment of jute research in the region and the availability of seeds. This omission led to the rarity of seed production and supply, causing the riverside dwellers to cultivate, nowadays, almost exclusively mallow.