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Agave sisalana

Authority	Perrine ex Engelm.
Family	Liliopsida:Liliidae:Asparagales:Agavaceae
Synonyms	Agave rigida var. sisalana Engelmann
Common names	agave, Bahama hemp, dali, ndali, natali (Fiji), sisal hemp, sisal.
Editor
Ecocrop code	339

Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A monocarpic herbaceous plant with a short thick stem and a close rosette of leaves 60-160 cm in length. The roots rarely go deeper than about 35 cm. Towards the end of its lifespan it produces a long stout flowering pole. USES The leaves yield a hard, coarse fiber used in the manifacture of twines, cordage, and sacks. The fiber cannot be spun as finely as jute and ropes tend to break suddenly. Fibers are also used to reinforce plaster boards and paper. The leaves contain hecogenin used in the partial synthesis of the drug cortisone. GROWING PERIOD Short-lived perennial, with a yearly growth cycle of 150-270 days. Harvest can begin 2-4 years after planting, depending on temperature, and can continue up to about the 7-12th or even 20th year. At this stage the plant produce flowers and die. COMMON NAMES Sisal. FURTHER INF Sisal can in the tropics be grown at elevations up to 2000 m. It prefer moderate humidity. The species is indigenous to Central America and Mexico. One ton of fibre removes about 30 kg N, 5 kg P, 80 kg K, 65 kg Ca and 40 kg Mg from the field. Because the fibres themselves contain few minerals, the majority of the nutrients can be returned to the land with the pulp. The average yield is about 0.9 t/ha of dried fibres, on the best plantations in East Africa, yearly yields of 2.0-2.5 t/ha of dried fibres are obtained. Mentioned as a useful agroforestry species.
Sources
SOURCES (A. sisalana Perrine) Sims D (pers. comm.) Roecklein J 1987 pp 128 [USE] Rehm S 1991 pp 349-352 [RAIN, TEMP, LIG, TEXT, DRA, PH] Landon J 1984 pp 280 [TEXT, DRA, DEP, PH, FER, SAL] Eswaran H 1986 Edwards S 1984 pp 160 Purseglove J 1972 pp 14-29 [LIG, RAIN, DRA, TEXT, FER, TEMP] Gentry H 1982 pp 652 Nair P 1980 pp 215-222 [RAIN, TEMP, TEXT, FER, DRA, USE] Onwueme I 1991 pp 3943-399 [TEMP, LIG, RAIN, DRA, FER] Kirby R 1963 pp 224-254 [RAIN, DRA, SAL, DEP, TEXT, PH, FER, RAIN] Iwu M 1993 pp 109 [USE, LIG]