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Submitted to: Kenaf Association International Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Kenaf is a crop related to cotton, okra, and hollyhocks. It produces a fiber in the stems which has many uses, including paperpulp. The core of the stem can be used for livestock bedding, poultry litter, potting media, etc. This crop has the potential to become an economic crop in the Southern Great Plains. Therefore, information was needed about the amount of stem yield that might be produced. We conducted field tests under dryland and irrigated conditions and found that yields on dryland were highly variable, but generally were related to the amount of rain the crop received. The dryland yields varied from 1534 to 8998 kilograms per hectare (1370 to 8034 pounds per acre). Under irrigated conditions the yields were closely related to the amount of irrigation applied and ranged from 3720 to 17484 kilograms per hectare (3321 to 15611 pounds per acre). Technical Abstract: Because kenaf has so many potential uses, we have tested it for stem yield in the Soutern Great Plains under conditions of rain only (5 years) and irrigation (2 years). The stem yields under raingrown conditions were loosely related to the amount of rain received, and varied from 1534 to 8998 kg/ha. Timing of rain received was very important; rains in August were more beneficial than the same amount of rain in May. Stem yields under irrigation were closely related to the amount of water applied as expected. Hoever, frequent small amounts of water were more yield-enhancing than less-frequent applications of larger amounts of water. Water use effeciencies (kg of stem mm of water) ranged from 7.9 to 21.2. |
