PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE bioresources.com Saeed et al. (2017). “Sorghum & bagasse fibers,” BioResources 12(3), 5212-5222. 5212 Evaluation of Sudanese Sorghum and Bagasse as a Pulp and Paper Feedstock Haroon A. M. Saeed, a,b, * Yu Liu, a, * Lucian A. Lucia, a,c and Honglei Chen a The suitability of specific Sudanese agrowastes, sorghum straw, bagasse, and their 50% blend, were investigated for pulp and papermaking initiatives. A chemical analysis of sorghum straw and bagasse revealed levels of cellulose, lignin, hemicellulose, and ash for sorghum straw and bagasse that signalled a suitable relation to traditional wood feedstocks for pulping and papermaking applications. Moreover, the pulp yield and viscosity of sorghum straw were lower and higher, respectively, compared with the bagasse and the blend. More specifically, the papers obtained from bagasse showed better physical properties (tensile strength, tearing index, bursting index, and folding) compared to those of sorghum straw and the blend. The surface morphologies of the papers were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which showed that the fibres had a long, swollen, compact, and closely packed arrangement and were more homogeneous and well-blended for the bagasse compared with the pure sorghum straw and the 50% blend. Keywords: Agricultural residues; Sudan; Bagasse; Sorghum; Fibres; Pulp; Papermaking Contact information: a: Key Laboratory of Pulp & Paper Science and Technology Ministry of Education, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, Shandong 250353, 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 authors: haroonsaeed75@gmail.com; leoliuyu@163.con INTRODUCTION An enormous amount of agricultural residue cellulosic materials, such as cotton linters, sorghum, sunflower, millet, sesame stalks, and sugarcane bagasse, are burned annually in Sudan because of the lack of suitable and available processing facilities. However, the utilisation of these materials for pulp and papermaking are attractive (Khider et al. 2012). In recent years, there has been an increasing trend towards the application of agro-industrial residues as raw materials for pulp and paper production (Sánchez et al. 2016). Sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench) is an important crop in Sudan, and the country ranked eighth in the world in sorghum grain production (3.5 million tonnes) in 2014 (Hamed et al. 2015). Jiménez et al. (1993) studied the application of sorghum stalks in pulp and papermaking and determined they had better properties than other agricultural residues, such as olive tree fellings, wheat straw, sunflower stalks, vine shoots, and cotton plant stalks. Gençer and Şahin (2015) identified conditions for producing pulp and paper from sorghum. Indeed, the length of sorghum stalks is sufficient to make them a viable alternative for pulp and paper production. Albert et al. (2011) studied the fibre properties of Indian Sorghum halepense for paper production. Not surprisingly, the obtained results showed that S. halepense is a