Kenaf Yield Components and Plant Composition

For over 6000 years kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L., Malvaceae) was primarily used as a cordage crop and secondarily as a livestock feed (Dempsey 1975). In the wet-retting process the long, strong bark fiber strands were separated from the remaining bark material by a natural bacterial wet-retting process. The long, tall stalks were cut at ground level and either tied in bundles with the bark still attached or the bark was stripped off and tied together without the stalks. The bundles were then placed in ponds or slow moving streams to allow for the degradation and removal of the extraneous material around the bark fiber strands. Once the retting process was completed, the fiber strands were allowed to dry, and then made into twine, which could be further processed into rope or sackcloth. The non-fibrous leafy tops and the leaves from the rest of the plant were often harvested prior to or in conjunction with the harvesting of the bark fiber for live-stock feed. The production and retting process for kenaf remained basically unchanged for thousands of years, from the time it was first domesticated in northern Africa, including it’s introduction to India 200 years ago, to Russia in 1902, and to China in 1935 (Dempsey 1975). During the first half of the 20th century researchers in many countries, including the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees during World War II, devel-oped improved kenaf cultivars, harvesting equipment, and retting processes to maximize kenaf bark fiber strand