Nonfood crop
A crop grown primarily for uses other than direct human food, including fiber, fuel, animal feed, and industrial raw materials.
Cotton: A fiber crop whose seed hairs are processed into textile fiber, with seeds also used for oil and animal feed. Its lint is a major example of a nonfood crop grown for fiber.
Crop rotation: The practice of growing different crops sequentially on the same land. Rotations can include nonfood crops to diversify production and manage soil or pests.
Food versus fuel debate: A debate over whether crops and farmland should supply biofuels or food, and how those uses affect prices and access. Fuel crops can compete with food production for land, inputs, and harvests.
Food crop: A crop cultivated primarily for human consumption. It is the direct-use counterpart to crops grown for nonfood purposes.
Jute: A bast fiber obtained from plants in the genus Corchorus and used in burlap, sacks, and rope. Its stem fiber supplies durable materials rather than human food.
Lignocellulosic biomass: Plant material composed mainly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. This structural biomass is a feedstock for fuels and industrial chemicals.
Indirect land use change: Land conversion caused indirectly when displaced production shifts elsewhere to meet demand. Demand for nonfood crops may displace food or grazing production into new areas.
Cash crop: A crop grown mainly for sale rather than for the grower's own use. Cash crops are defined by their market role, not by whether people eat them.
Biofuel: Fuel produced from biomass, including plant material and organic waste. Some nonfood crops are cultivated specifically as feedstocks for fuel.
Cellulosic ethanol: Ethanol made by breaking down cellulose-rich biomass into fermentable sugars and converting them through fermentation. It can turn fibrous nonfood crop residues or dedicated crops into fuel.