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The
Many Benefits Of Hemp Agriculture
Hemp is the most environmentally positive crop, improving soil quality as it grows. It requires no herbicides and is naturally resistant to insects, fungus, and other pests. Hemp grows rapidly during its vegetative period, becoming tall and thick. It suppresses weeds, and shades and mulches the ground, which its deep taproots break up and aerate. These attributes promote healthy microbial soil life and leave the earth in a condition where it is easily worked and able to retain moisture during the next growing season.
Requirements
Of Hemp Agriculture
Hemp is so gentle on the land that it can be grown year after year in the same location, although this is not the most ecological option and is not permitted in organic cultivation (according to the stringent European Union organic certification regulations that we follow in our organic cultivation). It is best for fiber hemp to be cultivated in rotation with cereal crops and legumes. In fact, cereal crops will yield an extra 15-25% when cultivated after fiber hemp, because hemp eliminates competing weeds and improves the health of the soil. Crop rotation with hemp works well, since the ground is usually available for other crops by the middle of August. Legumes such as soybeans are the best preceding crop, because they add to the soil a lot of nitrogen, the basic building block of plant growth. Nitrogen is a crucial nutrient for hemp production, since hemp reaches a height of 10 to 12 feet during its short growing season of less than five months. Supplying sufficient nitrogen is a big challenge with organic hemp agriculture, and the use of artificial chemical fertilizers is prohibited in organic agriculture. This requirement of nitrogen can be resolved with proper cover cropping, rotation, and, if needed, the addition of manure. |
As an alternative to cotton — Hemp provides an ecological alternative to environmentally destructive cotton cultivation. Cotton is one of the most environmentally destructive agricultural crops, annually using over 275 million pounds of pesticides in the US alone. This is in addition to massive quantities of fertilizers, defoliants, growth regulators, and general biocides such as methyl bromide. Cotton production requires an immense amount of water, which depletes this resource and can cause salts to build up in the soil, while hemp needs no irrigation at all. Also the wide spacing between cotton plants allows the bare soils to bake and oxidize, releasing carbon to the atmosphere and decreasing soil fertility.
As an alternative to fossil fuel use — Hemp can reduce our use of synthetic textile fibers. Synthetic textile fibers are not biodegradable, generate pollution in their production, and are made from non-renewable petroleum. Hemp can also help us shift to a carbohydrate-based sustainable economy, because it is the largest biomass producer of any agricultural crop. This has tremendous potential for any biomass energy generation system and as a feedstock for bio-plastics, which are fully biodegradable and do not contaminate the soil after decomposition or emit harmful gasses if incinerated.
As an alternative to deforestation — Hemp can be processed into construction materials and paper products of excellent strength and quality, easing some of the unsustainable burden placed on our forests. An acre of hemp actually produces more than four times as much pulp for paper making than an acre of trees when figured on an annual basis. Additionally hemp requires no bleach in processing, due to its low lignin content, and there is no dioxin produced from its manufacture. |
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Organic Hemp Cultivation
Conventional hemp farming is already very ecological, since hemp requires no herbicides, pesticides, or irrigation and leaves the ground in a healthy condition. The next ecological step is to eliminate the use of synthetic fertilizers and attain organic certification. At ECOLUTION® we have always been devoted to finding the most environmentally conscious solutions in all of our activities. For example, we already produce all of our hemp fiber with strictly ecological methods of natural mechanical processing -- in marked contrast to the harsh chemicals used for processing hemp fiber in China.
Since 2001, ECOLUTION® has been cultivating hemp organically in the Satu Mare area of western Romania. These fertile plains are ideally suited for growing hemp and cereal crops.
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As pioneers in developing organically grown fiber hemp, we have taken
many steps to effectively establish organic hemp cultivation. First we
hired an "eco-agronomist" to research and develop the best
methods of organic hemp agriculture and to monitor this cultivation to
ensure its authenticity. We cultivated a relationship with a farmers'
cooperative, convinced them to work with organic agriculture, and then
we invested in this farming experiment directly by paying significantly
more for the organically grown hemp. In order to substantiate these efforts,
we engaged an organic certifier and integrated this program with the
rest of our activities.
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