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Kenaf - The Environmental Entrepreneurship Powerhouse
Food For People, Livestock Feed, Fiber, Fabric, Paper, Biochar Organic Fertilizer & Carbon Sequestration
Kenaf For Entrepreneurship - Kenaf Make Excellent Food For People, Livestock Feed, Fiber, Fabric, Paper, Biochar Organic Fertilizer, Automobile Interiors, Building Materials & Carbon Sequestration
I Acre of Kenaf Sequesters As Much Carbon Dioxide As 8 Acres of Fast Growing Pine Trees
Kenaf Make Excellent Food For People, Livestock Feed, Fiber, Fabric, Paper, Biochar Organic Fertilizer, Shade, Beautification, Automobile Interiors, Building Materials & Carbon Sequestration
Kenaf Seeds Are Now Available For Planting This Season. CLICK HERE For Ordering Information.
During the 1950s, kenaf was identified as a promising fiber source for paper pulp. Kenaf fibers have been processed into high quality newsprint and bond paper.
Although kenaf is usually considered a fiber crop, research indicates that it has high protein content and, therefore, is a potential livestock feed. Crude protein in kenaf leaves ranged from 21 to 34 percent, stalk crude protein ranged from 10 to 12 percent, and whole-plant crude protein ranged from 16 to 23 percent.
Kenaf can be ensilaged effectively, and it has satisfactory digestibility with a high percentage of digestible protein. Digestibility of dry matter and crude proteins in kenaf feeds ranged from 53 to 58 percent, and 59 to 71 percent, respectively Kenaf meal, used as a supplement in a rice ration for sheep, compared favorably with a ration containing alfalfa meal.
In addition to the use of kenaf for cordage, paper pulp and livestock feed researchers have investigated its use as poultry litter and animal bedding, bulking agent for sewage sludge composting and as a potting soil amendment. Additional products include automobile dashboards, carpet padding, corrugated medium, as a "substitute for fiberglass and other synthetic fibers," building materials (particle boards of various densities, thicknesses, and fire and insect resistances), absorbents, textiles and as fibers in extraction molded plastics.
As a livestock feed, kenaf is usually harvested at an earlier growth stage than as a fiber crop; 60 to 90 DAP compared with 120 to 150 DAP. During a shorter growing season, photoinsensitive varieties can produce dry matter yields equivalent to photosensitive varieties, while using seed that can be produced further north and in a larger geographic area.
Harvesting and Pelletizing
The evaluation of field equipment for harvesting kenaf continues to be an important aspect of commercialization. It has been demonstrated that standard forage cutting, chopping and baling equipment can be used for harvesting kenaf as either a forage or fiber crop. Kenaf can be baled into small square or large round bales. Sugar cane harvesters, with and without modification, have also been successfully used to harvest kenaf. In cotton growing regions, cotton modules have been used for field-side storage of chopped kenaf. Kenaf can also be pelleted for use as a fiber or forage crop.
Pelletizing kenaf increased its density by at least 390 percent, therefore, reducing both transportation and storage costs. It may be economically advantageous to use available commercial harvesting and processing equipment rather than investing in the development and production of kenaf specific equipment. Appropriate harvesting and pelletizing equipment is readily available throughout the United States. Mobile in the field harvester/separators are being developed, which will cut and then separate the bast and core fibers in the field.
When harvesting kenaf for fiber use, the moisture content and the equipment availability are important considerations. Kenaf can be harvested for fiber when it is dead, due to a killing frost or herbicides, or when it is still growing. The dry standing kenaf can be cut and then chopped, baled or transported as full length stalks. If the kenaf drying and defoliation process is dependent on a killing frost, the harvesting date will vary on the area of the state where the crop is growing and the time required for the kenaf to dry unless artificial drying is used. Much of the land which could be planted to kenaf does not lend itself to late harvest because of weather conditions and soil type.
Actively growing kenaf can be cut and then allowed to dry in the field. 0nce dried, the kenaf can then be chopped, baled or transported as full length stalks. The availability of in the field harvester/separators will add to the harvesting options.
Kenaf is a crop which is normally harvested in late fall or winter, and only once during the year. This presents some unique situations as far as supply and storage are concerned.
Marketing
Additional markets for kenaf as a fiber crop and as a finished product need to be developed. The development of kenaf as a fiber crop depends on several conditions. What happens in the forest industry in the wood and pulp product areas will be a major factor in the development of kenaf into a major industry The development of large stable markets for the raw and finished products must occur before farmers and industry will be willing to invest time and capital on a large scale.
The development of any new industry takes time, capital, scientific research, product research and development, and eventually stable markets. In the kenaf industry part of this development has already happened, but much is yet to be done.
The United States acceptance of kenaf as a major commercial crop will be strengthened as additional uses for kenaf are established. The increased production, processing and product development work being conducted within private industry state universities and USDA laboratories is encouraging and suggests a bright future for the establishment of kenaf as a commercial crop. However, for kenaf to become a viable alternative agricultural crop, stable markets must be established which will provide farmers with an economic return equal to or surpassing what they now receive for a given crop.
For kenaf to effectively replace products now on the market, it will have to be of equal or better quality than those to be replaced, be readily available to the industry and end users, be easily harvested and h have potential to be economically produced.
Additional agricultural research for tropical countries should include disease control and variety adaptation, along with the evaluation of harvesting systems and the economics appropriate for their country's production areas and products.
Want to know more about growing kenaf or getting kenaf seeds. Contact Dr. Cross
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