Vijayawada: The AP government had received a proposal from a Bengaluru-based start-up to establish a pilot project to cultivate and process industrial hemp, which can be put to use for various products including body care, bricks, and fibre.
While the cultivation of hemp, or cannabis, is banned under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, 1985, the state government can issue a licence to cultivate the weed for industrial use.
While regular hemp or ganja that is illegally cultivated and sold contains 3 to 30 THC (tetra hydro cannabinol), its value in industrial hemp varies from 0.3 to 1. Fibre from the industrial hemp has high demand from Europe and the US.
Namrata Hemp Company (NHempCo) which proposed a pilot project of hemp cultivation and processing to prepare bricks and fibre initially, launched a White Paper, ‘Industrial Hemp — The sunrise Industry to the sunrise state of India, AP” — on Wednesday. It highlights the three major concerns faced by the state — farmer conditions, employment and malnutrition.
To address the issues NHempCo has one key solution which is industrial hemp cultivation, company co-founder and managing director Harshaavardhan Redi Sirupa said.
The White Paper analyses how one single plant can be a wholesome industry in itself which will boost the economy of the state and how indutrial hemp can elevate farmers’ capabilities to revamp their farming process.
“A lot of industries can be built through hemp products, thus creating job opportunities, ultimately making a contribution to the economy of Andhra Pradesh. Hemp can be capitalised into several industries like FMCG, textile, real estate, wellness, food, automobile, paper, industrial products and building materials,” he added.
Mr Sirupa said farmers can earn a minimum Rs 20,000 per crop on an acre. He added that in his decade of research in hemp and its ecosystem, he had analysed the one solution that addresses these problems: Industrial hemp.
“Our hemp vision of eco Andhra Pradesh will focus on organic cultivation benefiting farmers, building up 200 industries by the year 2030, which will strengthen the local economy,” he said.
He said the company was looking for the approval of pilot project on hemp cultivation and setting up first hemp factory in Allumuru, Atmakuru mandal, if Anantapur district. “We are also looking forward to collaborating with agriculture and horticulture department to build a public-private partnership model for the state-owned barren land and transform it into productive land by hemp farming.”
He said lakhs of acres of barren lands that are not suitable to cultivate convential crops can be put to use for hemp cultivation that can provide income to farmers.
