PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE BioResources.com Saeed et al. (2017). “Pulp & paper ag residue,” BioResources 12(2), 4166-4176. 4166 Sudanese Agro-residue as a Novel Furnish for Pulp and Paper Manufacturing Haroon A. M. Saeed, a,b, * Yu Liu, a, * Lucian A. Lucia, a,c and Honglei Chen a Sudan has rich sources of lignocellulose materials from agricultural waste that have potential to be used as a papermaking furnish following adequate chemical compositions, elemental analysis, fibre dimensions, and morphology of millet stalks and date palm leaves. Paper sheet properties from the various pulps made were investigated, and it was found that there was no difference in the polysaccharide (cellulose and hemicelluloses) content between millet stalks and date palm leaves, although millet stalks had a high lignin content of 18.20% relative to date palm leaves’ content of 15.34%. Moreover, millet stalks showed a high pulp yield (42.04%) with a viscosity of 665 mL/g compared to that (34.43%, 551 mL/g) and (38.50% and 534 mL/g) of date palm leaves and the blend, respectively. Papers produced from date palm leaves and millet stalk blends showed better physical properties compared to that of pure millet stalks and date palm leaves. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that fibres in the blend were more closely packed than that of the pure millet stalks and date palm leaves fibers. Based on their physical and chemical composition properties, millet stalks and date palm leaves have a high potential as a furnish for pulp and papermaking. Key words: Sudanese agro-residue; Millet stalks; Date palm leaves; Cellulose; Pulp and paper Contact information: a: Key Lab of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology of Ministry of Education (Shandong Province) Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, 250353, Shandong, P.R. China; b: Center of Fibers, Papers and Recycling, Faculty of Textiles, University of Gezira, Box 20, Wad Medani, Sudan; c: Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University, Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005, USA; ٭Corresponding author: haroonsaeed75@gmail.com, leoliuyu@163.com INTRODUCTION An increase in pulp and paperboard consumption, stricter environmental and sustainability regulations, and the increased use of wood materials for furniture production have prompted scientists and researchers to seek additional lignocellulosic material for pulp and papermaking (Danielewicz and Surma-Slusarska 2011; Xing et al. 2016). Globally, non-wood cellulosic materials are a major part of raw material inventories for pulping and paper. Sudan is rich in non-wood cellulose materials, such as bagasse, cotton linters, sorghum, sunflower, millet and sesame stalks, and date palm rachis and leaves, which can be used in pulp and paper (Elzaki et al. 2012). The use of agricultural residues in pulp and papermaking has many benefits for farmers and the environment, such as reducing the need for waste disposal, which currently increases farming costs and sustainability by reducing environmental pollution, fires, and pests (Hammett et al. 2001; Ashori 2006). Compared with other classical pulping processes, soda pulping is the most economical, efficient, and simple for non- woody feedstock. Soda-anthraquinone pulping has been applied to various agricultural