Basic industrial crops as a source of renewable raw fiber materials

Humankind has been exploiting fiber plants to meet its needs since time immemorial: first, collecting them in the wild, and later, cultivating and constantly improving them. Fiber can be obtained from seed (cotton, etc.), fruit (kapok, etc.), stems (flax, etc.), or leaves (sisal, etc.). Ten crops have become the most widespread in the world. FAO reports that cotton is the leader, with a total area of 31.8 million hectares in 2023, or 90.8% of the total land under fiber crops in the world. Jute is the second (4.4%), while sisal (0.8%), flax (0.7%), abacá (0.5%), kapok (0.5%), kenaf (0.4%), etc. aggregately account for a total of 4.8% of the land. According to the Federal Statistics Service, in 2023 flax was cultivated in Russia on an area of 35,200 hectares, hemp on 11,400 hectares, and cotton on 200 hectares. Today, with the advent of modern materials, these crops have not lost their significance, still occupying an important place in industry and in every person’s life. Depending on the features and quality characteristics, their fiber in its original, cottonized or chemically modified form is used for the production of various household and industrial fabrics, clothing, threads, ropes, wadding, disposable tableware and gunpowder, for stuffing pillows and seats, and in manufacturing composite materials for the automotive and aerospace industries. Their use reduces anthropogenic pressure on nature and provides industry with renewable raw materials.

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