In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

World Production and Potential Utilization of Jute, Kenaf, and Allied Fibers

Aimin Liu, Ph.D.

Abstract

Jute, kenaf, and other allied fibers (JAF) are the second most important natural fibers
next to cotton. JAF are cash crops of great socio-economic importance in countries
like, Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, and Thailand, because they provide sustenance
to more than 12 million small and marginal farm families for their livelihood.

World production of JAF, however, has shown a declining trend. For example, total
world JAF production in 99/00 decreased sharply by 33.5% to 2.61 million tons from
its peak of 3.92 million tons in 97/98. Jute production in Bangladesh and India
decreased by 49 % and 19%, respectively, and kenaf production in China and
Thailand decreased by 59% and 47%, respectively during the same period.

Among many factors influencing JAF production, less competitive price of JAF
comparing to that of other cash crops has discouraged farmers to cultivate JAF. The
shrinking market of traditional JAF products resulted from bulk handling and
competition from synthetic substitutes has contributed to the less remunerative price
of JAF. Also, as a result of globalization and economic liberalization, the commodity
markets have become more competitive.

Noticeable efforts are being made to promote the traditional JAF products in order to
retain their existing markets. Also, R&D activities at both national and international
levels have resulted in the innovation and introduction of a series of value-added JAF
products, such as, paper pulp, reinforced composite materials, geo-textiles, and home
textiles, etc. These products have not only provided us with solutions to certain
environmental problems, but also predicted a potentially bright future for mass
consumption of JAF, which will improve the frustrated situation of JAF production.
However, joint efforts are still needed among policy makers, industries, and NGOs in
order to revitalize JAF and make these natural fibers a new industrial material.

INTRODUCTION

With increasing deterioration of world environments caused mainly by the extensive

exploration and utilization of nature resources and the continuous expansion of
synthetic product market, naturally renewable materials are gradually attracting more
and more attentions from both developed and developing countries. Among many
naturally renewable materials, jute, kenaf and allied fibers (JAF) are becoming
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

increasingly important because of their chemical, mechanical, and environmental

characteristics. Different groups from around the world have been making enormous
efforts in promoting JAF in the areas of agricultural production, product innovation,
and market development. Established in 1984, the International Jute Organisation
(IJO), an inter-governmental organisation headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has
played an important role in implementing JAF-related programs among its member
countries. Agricultural R&D has been its focus since the inception of the IJO and will
remain an important area for JAF development. IJO’s agricultural R&D has been
focused on the areas like, varietal improvement for better yield, biotic and abiotic
resistance, application of biotechnology, cost reduction, environmental assessment,
and harvest and post-harvest techniques, etc.

With the largest JAF germplasm repository containing about 6,000 accessions,
scientist have been able to develop jute and kenaf varieties with improved agronomic
traits like high yielding, disease and insect resistance, and adaptability to adverse
environments. IJO has assisted project participating countries in releasing a number of
jute/kenaf varieties which have replaced traditional varieties and are being cultivated
by farmers in large areas. For example, kenaf hybrid varieties KB2 and KB11
developed by the Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, China, were reported to yield 3.7
ton/ha fibers, which is about 16% higher than control variety. Under IJO project,
scientists in Biotechnological Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences, have successfully produced the first trasgenic kenaf plant by transforming
the fungal resistance genes chitinase and glucanase into kenaf plant. The
implementation of projects on seed production, retting technologies, and sustainable
production has also contributed significantly to JAF development.

Because of the downturn in world demand of traditional JAF products for the last
many years resulted mainly from bulk handling and the competition from synthetic
products, development of diversified and value-added JAF products is becoming
imperative. Environmental concerns on the excessive use of natural resources also
are becoming a driving force for the recent trends of using natural, renewable fibers to
supplement or partially replace synthetic materials in many applications.

WORLD PRODUCTION OF JAF

Total world production of JAF fluctuates around three million tons each year
depending largely on the world demand, as well as the climate conditions and
agricultural outputs in the JAF producing countries. In 99/00, total world jute and
kenaf production was 2.6 million tons. Jute production alone was 2.09 million tons,
among which, production from Bangladesh accounts for 68%, India for 30% and
Myanmar and Nepal for 1% each. Total kenaf production in 99/00 was 0.51 million
tons, among which production from China accounts for 44%, India for 39%, Thailand
for 12%, and the remaining are from Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries. Of the
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

total JAF production, five major producing countries, namely, Bangladesh, China,
India, Nepal, and Thailand account for about 95%. These countries also provide the
base for 90% export of JAF products.

In spite of the agricultural research and development activities which has resulted in
increased productivity and improved farming practices of JAF, world production of
JAF has shown an declining trend. As shown in Fig.1 and 2, total world JAF
production in 99/00 decreased sharply by 33.5% to 2.61 million tons from its peak of
3.92 million tons in 97/98. Jute production in Bangladesh and India decreased by 49
% and 19%, respectively, and kenaf production in China and Thailand decreased by
59% and 47%, respectively during the same period. Total world kenaf production in
99/00 was only 0.51 million tons, showing a 30% decrease as compared with that of
previous year. Nowadays, it is probably difficult to find any large scale of kenaf
cultivation in kenaf producing countries like China and Thailand. It has been noticed
that now kenaf is only planted on marginal lands with poor or no management. It has
been forecasted that, under normal weather conditions and taking into consideration
as far as possible the interplay of many factors affecting jute area and yield, world
production of JAF is projected at 2.9 million tons in 2005. (FAO)

4800
4000 World
3200 Bangladesh
2400 India
1600 Myanmar
800
Nepal
0

Seasons

Figure 1. Total world production of JAF and jute production in Bangladesh,

India, Myanmar, and Nepal during 1992-2000. (FAO)

1200

1000
World
800
China
600 India
400 Indonesia
200 Thailand
VietNam
0

Seasons

Figure 2. Total world production of kenaf and its country-wise breakdown

during 1992-2000. (FAO)
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

Following a similar trend, total cultivation area under JAF also decreased significantly
in most of the JAF producing countries. From 97/98 to 99/00, total areas of world JAF
cultivation decreased by 19% from 1.11 million ha to 0.91 million ha. Planting areas
in Bangladesh, China, and India decreased by 49%, 63%, and 19%, respectively
during the same period. It has been a noticeable pheromone that in most of the JAF
producing countries, farmers are giving up JAF cultivation and shifting to planting
other cash crops such as sugar cane, cassava, and rice for more remunerative return.
Some national governments are also adjusting their agricultural policies by lowering
the priority of JAF among other crops.

JAF have been considered as a valuable natural resource with many advantages over
synthetics like, high productivity, renewability, and biodegradability. JAF planting
can enrich the soil fertility, absorb atmosphere CO2 at a higher rate than other plants,
which would contribute to air cleaning. Also, the products made from JAF are eco-
friendly, less costly, and comparable with similar products made from synthetics in
terms of their physical, chemical, and cosmetic properties.

However, the above JAF production data has indicated that JAF production is
following a declining trend worldwide. The main reasons can be summarized as
follows:

a) The world market for traditional JAF product such as, sacking and hessian is
shrinking at a fast speed, which result from either bulk handling or increasing
use of synthetics. For example, from 98/99 to 99/00, world export of JAF
yarns, sacking, hessian, and carpet backing decreased remarkably by 76%,
71%, 92%, and 88%, respectively.

b) Lower demand of JAF in world market has resulted in a low price of raw JAF.
As a marginal farming group, JAF farmers have weak bargaining power when
selling their fibers to the middle agents. Therefore, farmers are discouraged by
the low price and are replacing JAF with more remunerative crops on their
limited lands. The withdrawal of national subsidy program or no subsidy at all
also negatively affects farmer’s motivation to grow JAF crops. It should be
mentioned that the production of jute and kenaf fibers, i.e. from sowing to
retting is a more value-added process than production of other crops.
However, this added value has never been calculated into the sale price of
fibers at farm gate. and

c) Although lots of efforts have been made in developing value-added and

diversified JAF products, most of the products are still at their pilot stages. So
far, there is not a single such product available in the market in large scale,
which can consume large quantity of JAF.
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

To improve this unfavorable situation, agricultural research needs to be continued in

order to improve productivity and reduce production cost. In parallel, development of
value-added, diversified products and their marketing infrastructure should be
emphasized.

PROMISING JUTE AND KENAF PRODUCTS

Developing an agricultural commodity largely depends on the size and level of its
industrialization. This is especially true for the JAF because jute and kenaf fibers are
mostly being used for manufacturing traditional products with low value addition.
Earnings from JAF are mostly made through exporting raw materials or trading low
value-added products. To develop JAF products with marketing potential, following
elements should be considered: i). high value addition; ii). low price/performance
ratio; iii). well-defined market sectors; iv). large economic scale; and v). significantly
environmental benefit. Following products are considered to have great potentials:

Pulp and Paper

Research and development activities in many countries have demonstrated that kenaf can
be used for producing high-quality writing and specialty papers. The separated bark and
core fractions can be used to produce pulps with properties comparable to those
produced from wood. The bark fibers offer strength to the pulp while the shorter core
fibers provide appreciable surface characteristics. Furthermore, using kenaf for pulp
making has many advantages such as, reduced chemical and energy consumption,
recycle of paper mill wastewater as fertilizer, suitable for making specialty and high
quality paper, etc. Pulping the whole stem material also reduces the cost by avoiding
labor-intensive retting and extraction process.

Despite the available technologies and products of kenaf paper, the market share of
kenaf paper is still very small. Three possible scenarios may exist for the unsuccessful
market development of kenaf paper:

1) Countries facing the threats of environmental degradation caused by deforestation

may not have sufficient support both financially and technologically in developing
kenaf paper, like the case in China.
2) Countries with sufficient financial, technological, and governmental supports may
not have the required production scale for raw material supply, like the case in Japan;
3) Countries with all necessary requirements for kenaf paper industry like, raw
materials supply, technologies, and capital, but face strong competition from timber
industry, like the case in the US.
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

In view of above, a joint effort is especially important to promote kenaf paper industry.
Also, strong support from policy makers is a key factor.

Jute/Kenaf Reinforced Composites

Jute/kenaf fibers have the potential to compete with glass fiber as reinforcing agents
in plastics. Technology exists for incorporating jute/kenaf fibers with polypropylene
yielding jute/kenaf composite granules, which can be used in thermoforming
processing techniques, such as injection moulding and compressing moulding. This
composite can be used

1) in packaging industry manufacturing crates, boxes, cases, etc. for storage and
transportation of agricultural products.
2) in automobile industry to replace glass fiber in door panel and other parts;
3) as construction materials.

Products made from jute/kenaf reinforced composite have the advantages of low cost,
low density, renewability, and biodegradability.

Applications of this kind of composite are foreseen to have significantly positive

effect on the environments since packaging industry consumes about one-third of the
plastic consumption in many developed countries. Also, packaging industry is
responsible for the production of 20.8% of total world solid waste and 3.7% of energy
consumption.

Particleboard

Particleboard made from kenaf bast fiber, core fiber, or their mixture has a wide-range
application as substitute of wood. The availability of the technologies for producing
particleboard, combining its high socio-economic value will offer JAF huge potentials
for future development.

Geo-textile

JAF geo-textile is another product with potentially large-scale application. It can be

used for soil erosion control and vegetation establishment, agro-mulching materials,
and road pavement construction. In 1998, worldwide consumption of hillslope erosion
control geo-textile was 87 million m2, among which natural geo-textile accounted for
57%. However, among the natural geo-textile, jute/kenaf geo-textile only accounts for
15%. The remaining are led by excelsior/straw (59%), coir (22%), an others (4%).
Therefore, room exists for developing jute/kenaf geo-textile into the geo-textile
sector. The advantages of using natural geo-textile are obvious.
 In: Proceedings of the 2000 International Kenaf Symposium, Hiroshima, Japan

CONCLUSIONS

JAF can also be used for manufacturing various other products such as home textile,
industry absorbent materials, and forage, etc. However, the products described above
are singled out in this paper because of their potentially large economic scale and
targeted market sectors. The technologies for manufacturing those products are either
mature or at pilot stages awaiting capital investment. Factors need to be taken into
consideration when setting up the kenaf industry include, but not limited to: a). large
JAF production base to ensure the raw materials supply; b). government-enforced
policies and regulations for environmental protection, especially, forest resource
protection; c). favorable investment environments; and d). selection of location where
economy is booming, etc.

As a promising industry, JAF industry should draw more attention from the national
governments in combining with their national policies on environmental protection.
Initiations should been taken by leading industries with interest in environmentally
friendly products, visions and capital.