Why are straw and other agricultural wastes used for papermaking in areas with few forests?

In regions where forest resources are scarce, the development of the paper industry relies heavily on the use of annual plants and agricultural fibers, such as cereal straws and bagasse, as practical alternatives to wood pulp.1

Because cellulose fiber is a fundamental constituent of plant stems, a wide variety of nonwoody plants can be pulped to produce paper. Utilizing these agricultural byproducts allows countries that are deficient in timber to sustain their paper production industries using locally available, renewable plant materials. While these nonwoody fibers differ from wood in their chemical composition—typically containing less lignin and cellulose—they remain a viable and widely practiced source for papermaking globally.1