The industrial hemp industry is hoping new research will assist in overcoming production and supply chain challenges, while helping to mainstream hemp as a conventional crop, like any other.
Southern Cross University is leading a $2.5 million body of research focussed on hemp seeds and varieties, primary production, products and sustainability.
The five-year study is funded by the AgriFutures Australia Australian Industrial Hemp Program of Research (AIHPR).
Lead researcher, Professor Tobias Kretzschmar, said the AIHPR would involve a range of research organisations and industry partners across Australia.
“The program of research will focus on securing a reliable supply of well-characterised hemp varieties, developing value-add processing methods, and investigating the safe and beneficial use of hemp products in livestock and animal feed,” he said.
“The research will also generate information and tools for growers to understand the sustainability credentials of industrial hemp.
“Hemp seeds are a rich source of essential Omega fatty acids and contain high amounts of protein. Hemp also produces high-quality fibres that can be made into fabric for clothing, replace single-use plastics and be used in building materials such as hempcrete. It can be grown in all states and territories of Australia.”
Professor Kretzschmar said hemp seed and fibre products were used abundantly in Australia before the 1930s but were subsequently shunned because of the rise of synthetic fibres and the plant’s association with the drug marijuana.
“I think one of the biggest myths that continues is that hemp and medicinal cannabis or hemp and marijuana are the same thing,” he said. “And to the point where many people think you are growing hemp as an excuse to grow dope.
“Others think that by association with any hemp products they may get accidentally high off it.
“Of course, none of this is true. Taxonomically speaking, industrial hemp belongs to the same species, but they have diverged through artificial selection and breeding over centuries. Now they are two, distinct aspects of the same plant species. A Kelpie and a Chihuahua are technically the same species as well, but no one would confuse them and take the Chihuahua out for mustering sheep.”
Dehulled hemp seed has been deregulated for human consumption in Australia since 2017 and the use of industrial hemp as a prolific biomass producer is steadily growing.
“Hemp is an arable, broad acre crop while due to government regulations medicinal cannabis is (grown) indoors,” Professor Kretzschmar said. “Hemp trials continue to be targeted by individuals attempting to steal the crop. It remains unclear what their intentions are, but one thing is for certain, they are not using it for recreational purposes.”
More information is available on the Southern Cross University website.
