Page 331 - Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

304 Handbook of Properties of Textile and Technical Fibres

and produce fiber, animal feed, ethyl alcohol, and other chemicals, there is a need to
identify plant varieties with potential for high biomass yield and specific quality traits.
It is important for farmers and industrialists to obtain benefit from the recent innovative
use of plants as a biorenewable energy resource (Sellers Jr et al., 1999).
The fiber plants are harvested so as to obtain optimum fiber content, generally at the
beginning of flowering (Manzanares et al., 1997). Harvesting is accomplished either
by hand or mechanically with farm equipment. The plants cannot tolerate frost and

temperature effects, which requires maintaining the temperature above 10 C
throughout harvesting of plants (Meints and Smith, 2003). This is suitable for only
the plants growing in the tropical region. Harvesting is dependent on production loca-
tion, the equipment available, processing method, and final product use. The plants are
harvested by four methods: sugarcane-type harvesters, jute/reed-type harvesters,
forage-type harvesters, and F.lli Bassi harvesters, which are presented in Fig. 9.1
(Abe and Ozaki, 1998). The bast fiber plants are generally harvested for their stalks,
from which the fibers are extracted, and they comprise about 35% of fibers and core
fibers representing about 65% of the stalk dry weight (Liu, 2005). Sowing and harvest-
ing are not practicable during the wet season, and this allows considerable changes and

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 9.1 Plant harvesting techniques. (a) Sugarcane-type harvesters, (b) Jute/Reed harvesters,
(c) Forage harvester, and (d) F.lli Bassi harvester.
Reproduced from Ramesh M: Prog Mater Sci 78e79, 1e92.