Cultivation and use of alternative fibre crops: examples from Central Asia

Central Asia is one of the most important cotton-growing regions in the world. Cotton cultivation has contributed significantly to the scarcity of water resources. The associated change in the landscape structure impacting ecosystems, human health and socio-economic conditions. Counteracting these developments requires alternative and reliable land management systems. However, the challenges cannot be addressed only through alternative forms of site-adapted and sustainable land use – they must also consider the subsequent added value, particularly in rural regions. Therefore, international teams from Germany and Central Asia have worked together with local stakeholders to develop exemplary solutions to these challenges, including the cultivation, processing and use of bast fibre crops as alternatives or supplements to cotton in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. For linseed, options for harvesting the biomass and processing it into valuable industrial raw materials for the domestic economy have been developed. In addition, fibre hemp and Apocynum have the potential to contribute to the recultivation of fallow land, and high-quality bast fibres can be produced from both plants. Both crops are attracting growing interest from processing companies that are becoming increasingly established in the region.

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