While Okinawa Prefecture has long farmed cane for the production of sugar, traditionally, the milling system that extracted cane juice from cane left a pulp (bagasse) containing fibers of 1À2 mm in length, which were nearly useless for textile production and only good for pig fodder or as fuel. Mitsubishi Paper Mills' cane separation system splits the three components of sugar cane, these being the core (from which cane juice is extracted), the fibrous rind and the epidermis (which contains wax). Shikibo Ltd. has succeeded in developing a special technology to separate the fiber from the cane rind, and Shinnaigai Textile Ltd. uses its original technology to spin a blend of cane and cotton fibers into soft yarns of regular length.

 Sugarcane farmers are seeking to raise the value of their crops while finding more productive uses for each part of the plant. Today, efforts to promote –whole-cane utilization” through separation and extraction of wax and other useful components of the plant are ongoing. Sugarcane is one of the five leading crops of the world, giving this new project potentially global significance for better use of biomass material.