KENAF BOOKLET Prepared in the framework of the BIOKENAF project QLK5 CT2001 01729 Prepared by: CRES UNICT UTH CETA BTG INIA UniNOVA UNIBO NAGREF A&F INRA ADAS KENAF BOOKLET BIOKENAF CONSORTIUM Partners Country Contact details CRES Greece Dr. Efi Alexopoulou ( [email protected] ) Center for Renewable Tel: +30 210 66030382, Fax: +30 210 6603301 Energy Sources Biomass Department Web-site: www.cres.gr (Coordinator) UNICT Italy Prof. Salvatore Luciano Cosentino University of Catania ([email protected]) Department of Agronomy Tel.: +39 095 23411, Fax: +39 095 234449 and Animal Production (DACPA) Web-site: www.unict.it UTH Greece Prof. Nikos Danalatos ( [email protected] ) University of Thessaly Tel.: +30 421 74000, Fax: +30 421 74270 Department of Crop Production Web-site: www.uth.gr BTG The Netherlands Dr. Douwe van den Berg Biomass Technology ([email protected] ) Group B V Tel.: +31 53 4862288, Fax: +31 53 4893116 Web-page: www.btgworld.com CETA Italy Dr. Massimo Veccheit Centre for Theoretical ([email protected] ) and Applied Ecology Tel: +39 040 3755610, Fax: +39 0481 599268 Web-page: www.ceta.go.it , www.technoline.area.trieste.it INIA Spain Dr. Jose Luis Tenorio ( [email protected] ) Instituto Nacional de Tel: +34 91 8892943, Fax: +34 91 8828124 Investigacion y Technologia Agraria y Web-page: www.inia.es Alimentaria UniNOVA Portugal Dr. Ana Luisa Fernando ( [email protected] ) University of Lisbon Tel: +351 21 2948563, Tel and Fax: +351 21 2948543 Grupo de Disciplinas de Ecologia da Hidrosfera Web-site: http://campus.fct.unl.pt NAGREF Greece Dr. Evripidis Kipriotis ( [email protected] ) Komotini Agricultural Tel: +30 2531 0 81920, Fax: +30 531 0 33556 Research Station Web-site: www.nagref.gr A&F The Netherlands Dr. Steef Lips ( [email protected] ) Agrotechnology & Food Tel: +31 317 475 391, Fax: +31 317 475 347 Sciences Group Web-page: www.afsg.wur.nl UNIBO Italy Prof. Gianpetro Venturi ( [email protected] ) University of Bologna Tel.: +39 051 2096652 Department of Agro environmental Science Fax: +39 051 2096242, - 2096241 and Technologies (DiSTA) Web-page: www.unibo.it INRA France Dr. Ghislain Gosse ( [email protected] ) Institut Nacional de Tel.: +33 03 22 85 75 04 , Fax: +33 03 22 85 69 96 Researche Agronomique Web-page: www.inra.fr ADAS UK Ltd UK Dr. Sarah Cook ( [email protected] ) Tel: +44 1354 697 203, Fax: +44 1354 694 488 Web-page: www.adas.co.uk i KENAF BOOKLET PREFACE BIOKENAF project had as overall objective to introduce and evaluate kenaf as a non-food crop through an integrated approach for alternative land use in South EU that will provide diversified opportunities for farmers and biological materials for the “bio-based industries” of the future. The main research topics were the followings: To determine the sustainable yielding potential of kenaf , as a non- food crop at different locations in Southern Europe, namely Greece, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal and to assess the limitations that cultivating techniques, such are: irrigation, nitrogen, sowing date and plant density place on crop growth and productivity. To develop a dynamic crop growth simulation model for kenaf that will be a very useful tool for yield predictions. To evaluate the effect of harvesting time and storage methods to the quantity and quality of the harvested material for industrial and energy applications. To evaluate the suitability of kenaf for both selected industrial (high added value) and thermochemical energy applications (combustion, gasification and pyrolysis). To carry out environmental assessment and LCA that will contribute to make scenarios for alternative land use in the agricultural regions of south EU. To conduct an economic evaluation of the crop for alternative land use in selected agricultural systems of southern EU regions. In the light of this project ( http://www.cres.gr/biokenaf ) this BOOKLET for KENAF was prepared. The information provided in this booklet has been organished in six chapters. The booklet starts ( chapter 1 ) with a short description of the crop (origin, botanical description, important of the crop and area of cultivation). In chapter 2 the eco physiological requirements of the crop described. The management of the crop (sowing dates, plant densities, nitrogen and irrigation requirements and finally the weed management) is presented in chapter 3 based on the international literature as well as on the data that was collected in the framework of this project. In chapter 4 the reported yields worldwide were recorded with special emphasis on the type of the cultivated variety (early or late) and on the new released varieties. Kenaf it is characterised as a multi purpose crop due to its high number of final end uses that presented in chapter 5 . The main findings of the BIOKENAF research topics outlined in chapter 6 covering the whole production chain (production-harvesting-storage-end use) through an economic and environmental approach. ii KENAF BOOKLET CONTENTS 1. Short description of Kenaf 1 1.1 Taxonomy and origin 1 1.2 Botanical description of the crop 1 1.2.1 Stems 1 1.2.2 Leaves 2 1.2.3 Flowers and capsules 2 1.2.4 Root 4 1.3 Importance of the crop and state of the art on kenaf 5 research in Europe and worldwide 1.4 Area of cultivation and world production 6 2. Eco physiological requirements 8 3. Management of the crop 10 3.1 Sowing dates and plant densities 10 3.2 Nitrogen requirements 12 3.3 Irrigation requirements 13 3.4 Weed management 14 4. Biomass yields and varieties 16 4.1 Early maturity varieties 16 4.2 Late maturity varieties 18 4.3 New released varieties 19 5. Uses of the crop 20 6. Main results on the research topics that dealt in the 24 BIOKENAF project 6.1 Yields of kenaf in South Europe 24 6.1.1 Effect of sowing date 24 6.1.2 Effect of plant density 25 6.1.3 Effect of irrigation rate 26 6.1.4 Effect of nitrogen rate 27 6.1.5 Effect of variety 28 6.2 Development of a growth simulation model 29 6.3 Harvest and storage trials 31 6.4 Suitability of kenaf for selected industrial applications 33 6.5 Thermochemical kenaf applications 35 6.6 Environmental analysis and LCA 35 6.7 Economics analysis of the crop 36 References 37 iii KENAF BOOKLET 1. Short description of the crop 1.1 Taxonomy and origin Kenaf ( Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a short-day annual herbaceous plant mainly cultivated for the soft bast fiber in its stem (Dempsey, 1975). It belongs to the Malvaceae, a family notable for both its economic and horticulture importance. The genus of Hibiscus is widespread, including some 200 annual and perennial species. Kenaf is closely related to cotton, okra, and hollyhocks. Kenaf, along with roselle, is classified taxonomically in the Furcaria section of Hibiscus . This section includes from 40 to 50 species that were described throughout the tropics and they are closely related morphologically (Dempsey, 1975). Kenaf has been cultivated long, probably as early as 4000 BC in western Africa (Roseberg, 1996). This plant is known under a variety of names (Wilson and Menzel, 1964) such as mesta (India, Bengal), stockroot (south Africa), Java jute (Indonesia), and ambari (Taiwan). Next to cotton, is the most widely cultivated fiber plant in the open country and can be found from Senegal to Nigeria. The plant in Africa had several non-fiber uses. Leaves and flowers are used as a vegetable, its seed are used for oil production and various plant parts are used in medicines and in certain superstitious rites. According to Wilson (1978), kenaf occurs as a wild plant in Eastern Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) as a component of native vegetation. This crop was introduced into southern Asia around 1900. Principal production areas are China, India and the Tashkent area of the former USSR. Essentially, kenaf is a traditional third world crop that is poised to be introduced as a new annually renewable source of industrial fiber in the so-called developed economies. 1.2 Botanical description 1.2.1 Stems Kenaf stems are generally round, and depend on variety, thorns on the stems ranging from quite tiny to large such as on a black berry bush. Stem color varies from pure green to deep burgundy. Kenaf plants tend to grow as a single unbranded stem when planted at high production densities of 170,000 to 220,000 plants/ha with a height of 2.5 to 6m. Kenaf stems have a thin bark over a woody core, surrounded by a leaft tuft (Kaldor, 1989). Kenaf stems contain two major fiber types, the one contains long fibers situated in the cortical layer, and the other one contains short fibers located in the ligneous zone (Figure 1). The central area of the stem, corresponding to pith, consists of sponge-like tissue. The outer bark contains the bast fibers with an average length of 2.5mm and the woody core fibers with an average of 0.6mm. Kenaf fibers have three principal chemical constituents, which are the a-cellulose (58-63%), hemicelloluse (21-24%) and lignin (12-14%). The minor constituents in kenaf stems are 0.4-0.8% fats and waxes, 0.6 to 1.2% inorganic matter, 0.8-1.5% nitrogenous matter and traces 1 KENAF BOOKLET of pigments. In total these minor constituents account to about 2% (Stout, 1989). The core contains more lignin and less cellulose than the bark (Clark et al. 1971). The bast fiber compromises 35 to 40 % of the dry weight of the plant mature stem; and the core compromises the balance (Muchow, 1983 I).