Plant information
Agave
Agave is a low maintenance, perennial, drought resistant, dryland crop producing up to 800 t/ha biomass with high sugar and fibre. Agave’s central stem and spiky leaves are rich in fibre and fermentable sugars. It’s specialised water management (CAM) enables it to thrive in marginal land, making it an ideal crop for Australian conditions.
Given the multi-year growth cycle, agaves can withstand and compensate for wide annual climate variations, allowing for reduced risk in comparison to annual crops especially as year-round harvesting can be undertaken.
Agaves are currently used commercially for spirit, fibre, livestock feed and providing erosion and fire control. The fibre is comparable to other agricultural residue fibres (e.g., straw, bagasse, hemp), which can be digested into biogas. Agave fibre has a greater tensile strength than most other commercially available fires, hence its long-term use in products such as baling twine (aka Sisal).
The high sugar content also makes agave a suitable raw material for renewable fuels e.g., ethanol. This high yielding biomass energy plant makes for a low maintenance crop which can harvested year-round.
Agave thrives in most agricultural regions including semi-arid, delivering yields at least equal to, often higher, than comparative crops. It out survives other crops due to high tolerance of hot, dry and drought conditions, is classified as non-invasive and has no known Australian pests and diseases. There are numerous species of agave suitable for commercial plantations to produce large quantities of biomass in high temperatures and low water environments.
Learn about Vircura and agave here.
Industrial hemp
Hemp is a dioecious (i.e. plants are either male or female and can change sex or become hermaphrodite mid-life cycle), dicotyledonous annual herbaceous plant that originates from Asia and is considered one of the oldest domesticated crops known to humans.
Hemp grows in temperate, subtropical and tropical climates, and is a short-day plant, i.e. the plant requires a set number of successive short days for flower initiation. It also has a high light requirement during its growing period.
Almost all of the hemp plant has some potential use, however the three main industrial use parts of the hemp plant are the inner fibres (hurd), the outer fibres (bast) and the flowering part (seed).
For thousands of years, hemp fibres have been used for clothing, shoes, cordages, carpets, tarps, ropes, sails, nets, paper, matting and insulation. Hemp clothing is hard-wearing and has natural antiseptic properties. The hurd is used for animal bedding and biofuels, and more recently for building materials (hempcrete and particle board), fibre-composites (e.g. car parts), bio-plastics and alternatives to fibreglass.
Vircura is exporting hemp fibres to industry and also partnering with other companies to develop innovative new industrial hemp products for the building and construction industry, having enormous benefits such as being energy efficient, zero carbon, fire resistant and sound proof.
Learn about Vircura and industrial hemp here.
