Kenaf Fibre Crop for Bioeconomic Industrial Development

Abstract

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a high yielding fibre crop that can be utilised as raw material in many industrial applications ranging from traditional fabrics, yarns and ropes to new applications in building materials, composites and lightweight car parts. Kenaf competes in some applications with other bast fibre crops such as jute, hemp and flax and with wood or wood residues in other markets such as in wall panels and pulp and paper applications. Traditional gunnysack markets switched over to cheap synthetic manmade fibres based on fossil oil, resulting in a decline of demand and production of jute and allied fibres over the past decades. This declining trend may be reversed, only when the different new markets for fibre crops described in this chapter can be established on a viable scale. When the policies for the transition from a petroleum-based economy to the biobased economy are to be implemented, increased demand for these kind of cellulose resources has to be anticipated for. This provides opportunities to develop kenaf-based industries and increased kenaf cultivation, especially in regions with limited supplies of wood.