Issue No 10, July 1998.

NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the Advice on Publications Available.

21.2 Kenaf : the forgotten fibre crop

There has been much recent interest in the media in Australia about the possibilities for using industrial hemp as a substitute for wood chips for the production of paper. In Queensland this interest has been heightened by the recent passing of legislation by the Queensland Government which will permit trial plantings of industrial hemp to determine its adaptation to Queensland conditions.

However, little mention is made in the media of another fibre crop which has already been extensively studied in Australia. This other fibre crop has been clearly demonstrated to be both well adapted to northern Australian conditions and suitable for the production of a wide range of papers from currency paper to newsprint.

The forgotten crop is kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) which in 1960 was selected by the United States Department of Agriculture from among 500 crop species (which included hemp) as the most promising non-wood fibre alternative for pulp and paper production.

Through the next two decades, an extensive research program was undertaken in the US into the field production and the paper making characteristics of kenaf. These all confirmed that kenaf was a promising alternative feedstock to wood for pulp and paper production.

Kenaf belongs to the same plant family as cotton, okra, the ornamental hibiscus and hollyhock. It grows best in the tropics and subtropics where mean daily temperatures during the growing season are greater than 20°C. It is an annual crop which is normally grown over the wet or summer season and is harvested for fibre soon after it commences to flower.

Under good conditions kenaf will grow to a height of 5 to 6 metres in 6 to 8 months and produce up to 30 tonnes per hectare of dry stem material.

Kenaf has been shown to be well adapted to production in northern Australia and can be grown on a wide range of soil types. It is tolerant of drought and relatively free from pests and diseases.

Research on kenaf was commenced in Australia 26 years ago.

The research was initiated by CSIRO with the first trials being grown in the Ord River Irrigation Area in 1972. The research was specifically directed
towards growing the crop for the production of paper and the field program was supported by studies on the paper making properties of the stem material.

Following the initial CSIRO studies, further work was conducted in the Burdekin River Irrigation Area of north Queensland by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries during the late 1970s and in the 'Top End' of the Northern Territory (NT) by the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries during the early 1980s.

To date, over 100 scientific papers have been published in Australia on all aspects of kenaf production and processing and two national workshops conducted, one in 1981 and the other in 1990.

The work undertaken to date has clearly confirmed the potential of kenaf as a feedstock for paper production and established the cultural practices necessary to grow the crop.

Why then has kenaf not yet become commercial?

In part, the answer lies with the Australian pulp and paper industry which has failed to show any real interest in kenaf. Almost all Australian pulp mills are located in southern Australia and are based on wood.

The industry considers that it has sufficient supplies of wood and is not interested in investing in a new mill in northern Australia, especially one using a new feedstock with which the industry has so far had little experience.

Kenaf requires processing and this leads to a Catch 22 situation. Growers cannot be expected to grow the crop until there is an assured market and a pulp and paper company cannot be expected to fund construction of a pulp mill until it is assured of a long-term continued supply of raw material.

Kenaf is currently being grown and pulped in Thailand, China and the US. Japan is one of the main importers of the pulp from Thailand and China and is producing a range of high quality writing papers. These papers are marketed as 'Ecological Papers' and are sold at a substantial premium over comparable wood-based papers.

The Japanese pulp and paper industry currently produces only 0.04% of its pulp production of about 15 million tonnes from non-wood materials. This is one of the lowest percentages among the industrialised countries.

The Japanese pulp and paper industry is keen to increase its usage of non-wood fibres and has indicated that kenaf is the preferred feedstock. The industry has set a short-term goal of 1% which would require about 300,000 tonnes of raw kenaf. In the longer term, the Japanese industry has indicated a goal of 10%.

Currently, Japanese importers are experiencing serious difficulties in securing supplies of kenaf. This opens up an exciting opportunity for Australia.

We have ample land available, many good farmers, the infrastructure necessary for a new major export industry and the knowledge.

The challenge for Australia is to establish and develop this new exciting opportunity.

Ausfibres Pty Ltd is a company established to commercialise the Australian production of non-wood fibre crops, particularly kenaf, for the manufacture of pulp and paper, and other end uses.

Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email: r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au

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originally created by: GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF