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11 Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)... 201

Table 11.2 World
Fibre crop/product Production (t) Area (ha)
production and acreage of
important fibre crops Agave fibres nes 34,210.00 43,440.00
Fibre crops nes 312,840.00 361,608.00
Flax fibre and tow 622,200.00 231,841.00
Hemp tow waste 80,048.00 53,652.00
Jute 3,055,856.90 1,303,354.30
Kapok fruit 358,500.00 170,300.00
Manila fibre (Abaca) 95,222.00 155,900.00
Other bastfibres 247,930.00 180,295.00
Ramie 118,000.00 75,340.00
Seed cotton 68,303,311.36 32,009,033.39
Sisal 361,307.06 417,510.00
Source: FAOSTAT (2010)

11.2 Flax/Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.): Botanical
Characterisation and Economical Uses

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is one of the oldest domesticated crops grown for
seed, oil and fibre use. Flax was cultivated in Egypt and Samaria 10,000 years ago
(Zohary and Hopf 2000) and is the first fibre crop of the ancient Near East (Abbo
et al. 2010). First cultivation of flax in Europe was in Neolithic era in the area of
recent south Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark and
Poland. The ancient Egypt was the most important place of flax cultivation with
the written evidence about flax retting and dying. About 1200 BC, the Jewish during
exodus from Egypt brought the knowledge on flax cultivation and processing to
new settlements (Palestina, France, England and Ireland; Mojz ˇı ´s ˇ 1988). Vavilov
(1926) proposed the centre of origin of flax is in the Middle East, although
secondary centres of diversity are identified in the Mediterranean Sea, Ethiopia,
Central Asia and India.
The origin of flax (L. usitatissimum L.) is uncertain. The genus Linum, belonging
to the family of Linaceae comprising 22 genera with over than 250 species, is
mainly spread in the Mediterranean in temperate climate prairies of north hemi-
sphere. Cultivated flax is related to L. bienne Mill. (syn. L. angustifolium Huds).
The subsection Linum contains the cultivated species L. usitatissimum L. and the
ornamentals L. grandiflorum Desf. and L. perenne L., but only L. usitatissimum has
economic importance. The species is self-pollinated and has the number of
chromosomes 2n ¼ 30 (Muravenko et al. 2003; Gill 1987). While L. usitatissimum
is an annual crop species, the wild species can also be biannual or perennial. Flax L.
bienne is probable progenitor of cultivated flax L. usitatissimum based on previous
characterisations (cytology, morphology and molecular analysis) (Diederichsen
and Hammer 1995; Muir and Wescott 2001;Fu 2005; Allaby et al. 2005; McDill
JR 2009; Uysal et al. 2010).
L. usitatissimum L. is represented by two technological types—flax for fibre
production and linseed for seed production. The flax stem should be long, straight,