The effect of new continuous harvest technology of ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud.) on fiber yield and quality

We investigated a new ramie (Boehmeria nivea L.) harvest mode, which can resolve the bottleneck problems hindering the development of the ramie cultivation industry. In an experiment using cultivar ‘Huazhu 4’, we designed five ramie harvest modes with the conventional harvest mode as the control group. The range of ramie production was 2214.67–2533.67 kg/ha, which was lower than the 2724.33 kg/ha for conventional harvest (average reduction of 10%). The gel content of all treatments was higher than in the control. The range of average fiber diameter was 15.95 ± 0.28 μm to 17.02 ± 0.39 μm, fiber diameter in Mode C was optimal. For each harvest mode, the fiber breaking strength was greatest in the first ramie harvested. With the postponing of harvest time, fiber average breaking elongation rate were lower than control except for Modes B and D. In the first harvest (except for Mode D), fiber crystallinity for each mode was significantly different to the control, but not when harvested later. Generally, the average gel content of raw ramie, fiber breaking strength and fiber crystallinity was not significantly different to the control. Continuous harvesting mode was feasible for ramie production.

► Compared to traditional harvest technologies, our research can ensure a continuous supply of raw material for factories.
► Each harvest mode had no significant differences in average fiber quality.
► Continuous harvesting mode was feasible for ramie production.