DoomsdaysCW#Hemp: A #Sustainable Plant with High Industrial Value in Food Processing
Hiroyuki Yano 1,*,†, Wei Fu 1,†
Editor: Andrea M Liceaga1
Excerpt: A Brief History of Hemp Cultivation in the World
"A recent study based on genome-wide phylogeography supports the leading hypothesis that Cannabis sativa was first domesticated in East Asia in the early Neolithic era. Ren et al. demonstrated that all current hemp and drug cultivars diverged from an ancestral gene pool currently represented by feral plants and landraces in China. Cannabis sativa, or 'useful hemp' in Latin, is categorized into non-drug type hemp and drug type marijuana depending on the content of psychoactive compound delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Industrial hemp contains only about 0.3–1.5% of THC, whereas marijuana contains 5–10% or more of THC. Hemp contains cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid, which has high medicinal potential in some conditions, such as difficult-to-treat seizures in children and adults.
"The history of hemp and human society is long and complex—from being an essential commodity fiber crop in the Age of Discovery to its widespread prohibition under the umbrella of marijuana in the 20th century. The oldest known fossil pollen record compatible with cannabis was found in rocks 19.6 million years old (Early Miocene) from the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (presently China), which has been proposed as the center of origin of cannabis. There, hemp has been grown for 4000 and 6000 years for the production of textiles and fiber. However, in 1985, China banned the production of hemp after it ratified the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Hemp production became legal again in 2010, and now the Chinese government encourages the textile industry, such as the Youngor Group, to manufacture hemp fiber products. Although official data for China’s hemp cultivation and production are unavailable, industry estimated China’s hemp planted area at around 66,700 hectares (165,000 acres) in 2019. China’s hemp market value was also estimated at USD 1.7 billion in 2017.
"Hemp is also grown across Europe. The cultivation area in the EU has increased significantly from 19,970 to 34,960 ha between 2015 and 2019. The production of hemp increased from 94,120 to 152,820 tons in the same period. France is the leading hemp cultivator, making up for more than 70% of the overall EU production, followed by the Netherlands (10%) and Austria (4%). In the UK, in 1533, King Henry VIII mandated every farmer to cultivate hemp, a useful source of tough fiber to produce naval equipment such as rope, canvas, and sails to protect the land surrounded by the ocean. However, in 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs banned all forms of cannabis in the US and in Western Europe (except France) because of the confusion between hemp and marijuana. Note, as an aside, that Boris Johnson mentioned climate protesters as 'hemp-smelling bivouacs'.
"Hemp has played critical roles in American history. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper. George Washington, the first president of the US, was to be found exhorting his head gardener to: 'Make the most of the Indian hemp seed…and sow it everywhere'. Federal restrictions on use or sale of cannabis first occurred with the passage of the #MarihuanaTaxAct of 1937 ('the Act') following the repeal of the National #Prohibition Act that prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcohol from 1920 to 1933. The Marihuana Tax Act imposed registration requirements and a tax on growers, sellers, and buyers of marijuana. However, during wartime, the US government relied on hemp to make twine, tarred cordage, nets, shoelaces, carpets, and parachutes. After World War II, hemp has been cultivated in very small amounts and eventually found itself 'unjustly imprisoned' under the negative influence of its sister plant, marijuana. In 2018, the Federal Farm Bill has legalized hemp as an agricultural commodity and removed it from the controlled substances list. Now, as of 2020, the US seems to be the world’s largest producer of industrial hemp with a licensed area of 465,787 acres.
"The world market of industrial hemp was estimated to be USD 4.13 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow by a 16.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2022 and 2030. Growing demand for industrial hemp from a wide variety of application industries drives the market."
Read more:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9913960/
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#HempUses #HistoryOfHemp
#Cannabis #HempCultivation #Sustainable
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