page_title: Roselle (plant)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Roselle (plant) / Production
caption_attribution_description: Harvesting roselle planted on bris (sandy) soils (Author: Dr. Mohamad bin Osman, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), mbopar@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my)
context_page_description: Roselle is a species of Hibiscus probably native to West & East Africa and South-East Asia including Northeastern India, used for the production of bast fibre and as an infusion, in which it may be known as carcade.
context_section_description: China and Thailand are the largest producers and control much of the world supply.  The world's best roselle comes from Sudan and Nigeria, b. Mexico, Egypt, Senegal, Tanzania, Mali and Jamaica are also important suppliers but production is mostly used domestically.
  In the Indian subcontinent (especially in the Ganges Delta region), roselle is cultivated for vegetable fibres. Roselle is called meśta (or meshta, the ś indicating an sh sound) in the region. Most of its fibres are locally consumed. However, the fibre (as well as cuttings or butts) from the roselle plant has great demand in natural fibre using industries.
  Roselle is a relatively new crop to create an industry in Malaysia. It was introduced in the early 1990s and its commercial planting was first promoted in 1993 by the Department of Agriculture in Terengganu. The planted acreage was 12.8 ha (30 acres) in 1993 and steadily increased to peak at 506 ha (1,000 acres) by 2000. The planted area is now less than 150 ha (400 acres) annually, planted with two main varieties. Terengganu state used to be the first and the largest producer, but now the production has spread more to other states. Despite the dwindling hectarage over the past decade or so, roselle is becoming increasingly known to the general population as an important pro-health drink. To a small extent, the calyces are also processed into sweet pickle, jelly and jam.
caption: Harvesting roselle planted on bris (sandy) soils in Rhu Tapai, Terengganu (September 2002)
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