Welcome to The Kenaf Research Farm –
A non-profit organization dedicated to Eco- and Societal Sustainable Solutions for the Planet and Humanity through research and education, especially dedicated to the role of kenaf for that end.
“Our Mission” is to further the global research, education, and implementation (promotion) of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) as a part of a carbon sequestration strategy in conjunction with developing new agricultural, eco-economic, nutritional and shelter by-products/systems that will enhance the sustainability of humanity worldwide, while reducing hunger, homelessness and global warming.
Our Goal is to “Teach a Man to Fish” – a global initiative to educate the World on its ability to sustainably feed and house people and create economic freedom with kenaf while reducing global warming.
Why kenaf? Kenaf is an annual fast growing (12-14 feet in 4-5 months), noninvasive plant in the Hibiscus family – a cousin to okra, cotton and hemp. The plant has been carbon-dated and goes back 4000 years. For centuries, kenaf has been a commercial product, used extensively in China and India for its fibrous bark from which burlap, clothing, canvas, particleboard and rope have been made.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture studies show that kenaf yields of 6 to 10 tons of dry fiber per acre per year are generally 3 to 5 times greater than the yield for Southern pine trees, which can take from 7 to 40 years to reach harvestable size. Kenaf is an eco-friendly solution to paper, particleboard, pulpwood and deforestation. This multi-faceted crop with its high protein leaf content (up to 34%) and nutritious seed oil is said to have thousands of uses including feedstock, high protein human food, building materials/systems, including drywall, floor tiles, insulation, agriculture products - soil amendment, soil and water remediation - to even bioplastics.
Toyota is utilizing kenaf grown in Malaysia for insulation and interiors of their automobiles. The next wave is bioplastics. Full of revolutionary technology, Toyota's new form of green mobility is the I-Unit that uses plant-based materials instead of oil-based plastics and metals. Biopolymers and bioplastics made from sugarcane and maize and are reinforced with plant fibers from the African kenaf plant.
The Most Important – CO2 Sequestration – Reduce Global Warming:
The most important property is its ability to absorb CO2 - higher than any other plant or tree! Dr. Toru Aoi, a noted Japanese scientist, has studied plants that absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) that is a greenhouse gas that is a major contributor to global warming. Dr. Aoi found that kenaf has the ability to absorb large quantities of CO2, in fact he calculated that dry kenaf is 45% carbon! Based on his findings, the more kenaf we grow, we can not only absorb significant amounts of the CO2 that is responsible for global warming, but also educate the world on how to be self-sustainable through kenaf’s many properties of providing FOOD, SHELTER AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES.
Meet Bill Loftus and The Kenaf Research Farm:
My name is Bill Loftus, Eco-Researcher and Inventor. I began this quest over 15 years ago to find a workable solution for the basic human needs of food and shelter for those in underdeveloped countries worldwide. I have several patents on a building system that will create the paradigm shift in affordable housing worldwide, but along that road I came upon kenaf! This amazing crop has been under our nose for almost 5,000 years and is a virtual storehouse of solutions. It’s just the matter of finding the right key to unlock the kenaf secrets. My initial solution focused on kenaf/concrete building forms as part of my building systems, but that was just the beginning….
Meet The Kenaf Research Farm located outside of Gainesville, Florida in Micanopy, Florida: recently we harvested over 300,000 kenaf plants and another 800,000 plants at our other KRF site in South Florida. Ours are rather unique as we have selected a most interesting variety of kenaf that was released to us and other scientists by a prestigious American university. This particular variety has a leg up over the many global species grown around the world and that is what makes it most compelling to our research - it tastes good!
That may not sound exciting at first but there are millions of children and adults starving every day, as is their livestock. This special variety offers up a high protein food source in just 3-4 weeks, ground up for flour or used in soups or salads; it has passed the taste test with flying colors and now our research continues in feeding animals with kenaf (I am feeding chickens and rabbits now). By having moveable cages in between the rows of kenaf, the animals deposit their manure and this replenishes the soil.
Kenaf is relatively easy to grow, rugged, drought tolerant and requires no pesticides but it does need fertilizer initially, or until it has had a few growing seasons to replenish the soil.
Current Kenaf Research Farm Initiatives Seeking Sponsors:
Our work is exciting, rewarding and keenly needed not only for the humanitarian aspects but for the reduction in CO2 as this is in the bull’s eye of our research: Reduce Global Warming and educate the world to provide sustainable Food, Shelter and Economic Development through Kenaf Initiatives. We are primarily self-funded and seek the support/sponsorship of global public/private entities, associations and UN and USAID projects to research, educate and deploy our kenaf research/technology.
Abstracts of the Kenaf Research Farm Initiatives are available - Contact Roz Gatewood, Director of Business Development and PR Relations, Roz Gatewood
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, for more information on the following:
· Rabbit/Poultry/Cattle Feed Pellet Program
· SEED Propagation Program
· Harvest Yields Program
· Community Out-Reach Programs: Education programs for schools, corporations, non-profits, and those desiring to bring global warming, carbon sequestration and humanitarian awareness and solutions to the world as a whole.
· Others:
Agriculture Solutions:
Kenaf - Soil Amendment to BioChar
More on Kenaf and Global Warming – We are one! We are the solution! WE ARE!
Plants and How Global Warming Works. You might remember from high school biology that plants absorb CO2 and sunlight and that is how they grow. Just as plants need sunlight to grow, they also need CO2. Plants create oxygen and this is what we breathe. Quite a neat system the Creator has made – humans breathe in oxygen and exhale CO2, and plants breathe in CO2 and exhale oxygen. Therefore, you could view our CO2 emissions from vehicles and power plants that burn coal or oil as potential plant food. If CO2 is plant food then what’s the big deal about CO2 causing global warming, you might ask. Answer: Our output of CO2 has been growing over the decades and there are not enough plants to absorb it all. The CO2 stays in the atmosphere and acts as a heat shield. Our planet gets warmer every year.
Will growing kenaf work to slow down global warming? Thinking that we will be able to lower our CO2 output by switching to alternative energies in time to slow down global warming, is not facing the facts. We are too dependent on oil. Alternative energies will happen eventually but not in time to slow down global warming. Recycling, changing our light bulbs and turning down the thermostat will only put a very small dent in slowing global warming, even though they are good environmental practices. How much time do we really have to change our ways? It might take decades to switch over to alternative energies and we don’t believe we have that kind of time.
Kenaf seems to be the best choice because it absorbs more CO2 than any other plant or tree. One scientist says it absorbs twice as much as the rainforest and 3-8 times as much as a tree. The United States uses about 25% of the world’s fossil fuels and yet we are only 5% of the world’s population. To be fair, per person in the US, we would need to plant a football field of kenaf whereas the rest of the world needs to plant only a plot equivalent to 17 yards on the football field (good back yard size) per person to absorb the CO2. We would then have completely solved mankind’s contribution to global warming!!!! We are formally requesting our government and those running for office to focus on this solution because if we don’t solve this – millions die. Our recommendations include growing it along the highways, power company land and other available public lands. We’d need your support and your lobbying voice. Please feel free to copy this and give it to friends. Visit our website stop-global-warming.org to see our letter to our elected officials and supporting documentation.
Help Us Plant Kenaf, Today! – We are in need of more seeds to send to less fortunate communities around the world and to plant here in Florida for our continued research. Your membership will help us in this important effort. Contact June Littler, President of Kenaf Research Farm and Stop Global Warming, Inc.
Or mail a check to:
Stop Global Warming, Inc.
5127 NW 25th Place
Gainesville, FL 32606
(352) 374-8158.
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Tax Identification Number 26-1483232
