Tasmania’s industrial hemp industry has expanded over the past few years, and its potential as a significant emerging product has been the subject of Dr Mark Boersma’s horticultural research.
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Based at Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture’s Forthside vegetable facility, Dr Boersma has been studying varying growing conditions and affects for this emerging crop.
He will share this research at the hemp industry lunch on Friday, held as part of the EARTH Expo, which is open to the public at Launceston’s Albert Hall during the weekend.
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Dr Boersma said there was still much to learn about optimising industrial hemp crops, including seed establishment, growth patterns, weed control, herbicide use, yield and seed grading.
“We’ve done a lot of work on seed establishment and looking at how the manage the height of hemp plants. They grow to 1.2 metres, or higher, but access becomes difficult at these heights,” Dr Boersma said.
“We’re also trimming plants at different stages and comparing the yield of seed. You can shorten the crop height, but we need to know which will produce the best yield,” he said.
Another factor with trimming is the number of leaves.
“The leaves act as solar panels that turn energy into seed. If you shorten them too much then you lower seed yield as well,” Dr Boersma said.
Industrial hemp grower Ecofibre has worked with and supported Dr Boersma during this research, however he said the industry’s lack of affiliate research organisations leaves funding for future hemp projects up in the air.
“There is no [industry] levy that feeds into this research. It’s difficult for small industries to lay their hands on lots of cash,” Dr Boersma said.
“As an industry we need to think about how to facilitate research,” he said.
The final part of Dr Boersma’s presentation will be to ask attendees how the Tasmanian hemp industry can offer something different to other markets.
“We have hemp for fibre and medication, but how does Tasmania develop a value claim that is unique to maintain its competitive advantage?”
“It’s about capturing that value so the money comes back into Tasmania and so farmers aren’t driven to the bottom of the barrel on pricing,” Dr Boersma said.