Anti-tobacco advocate Datuk K. Koris Atan is urging the Malaysian government to help the smoking rate in the country by getting tobacco farmers to switch to growing kenaf instead. Kenaf is a hibiscus, related to cotton and okra, used for a variety of purposes including paper pulp, textiles, and wood-based products. Koris argues that if tobacco becomes scarcer, the supply of cigarettes would dwindle, and thus smoking would decrease.
Kenaf was first introduced as a commercial crop in 1998, and Datuk Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Abdullah, chairman of the National Kenaf and Tobacco Board says it has great potential but just hasn’t been given the attention it needs. That it thrives in hot, dry climates makes it easy to grow, according to Rahim Wan, and offers potential earnings of RM 5,000 ($1,100) per hectare per season.
Wan Abdul Rahim said that kenaf can also be grown as a supplement to major plantations and farming such as rubber, oil palm, and padi. “It has gained global attention as a cost-effective plant,” he said.
