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The kenaf plant is one of the most promising alternatives to wood for paper production. It is a herbaceous annual related to cotton and okra and a member of the mallow family which originated in West Africa. It was traditionally cultivated in Africa and Asia for rope. Kenaf is a 4,000 year old plant, but it wasn’t until the 1940’s, when World War II stopped all imports from Asia, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began to research it. The USDA chose kenaf from among 500 candidates as the most promising non-wood fiber for pulp and paper production in 1960. The USDA picked kenaf because of its rapid growth, high yield, and exceptional papermaking characteristics. Kenaf reaches 12-18 feet in 150 days. It takes the southern pine 14-17 years to reach a harvestable size. Kenaf also yields more fiber per acre than the southern pine. It produces 5-10 tons of dry fiber per acre. That is 3-5 times as much as the southern pine. Kenaf fibers require less chemicals, heat, and time to pulp because thy are not as tough as wood pulp and contain 20% less lignin, a resin that binds the cellulose fibers in plants or trees together, than does the southern pine. Toxic chemicals such as chlorine are predominantly used to felinity