There are two disadvantages with forage harvesters currently being used for kenaf. First, the harvester chops the kenaf into small pieces. The bast fiber must be separated from the core, and the short bast fibers may limit the usage. Second, harvesting normally begins after frost kills the vegetation.
Weather often prohibits prompt harvest.
This delay in harvesting may affect other field operations the following year. It is easy to separate the bast fiber from core by crushing the green kenaf. The separation machine described here is based on a prototype developed by Tainan Fiber Crops Experiment Station in Taiwan in 1975. The whole kenaf stalk is fed into the machine. This action separates the bast fiber from the core.