Industrial hemp to go commercial this year
Following successful trials of industrial hemp at Chitedze Research Station in Lilongwe, Invegrow Limited, a company that was established in 2013 designed to grow and process Industrial Hemp in the country, plans to start commercial growing of the crop this year.
The firm, which has been working with government to research the viability of hemp as a commercial crop, has started mobilising resources for its factory in Lilongwe.
Director at Invegrow Limited, Nebert Nyirenda said on Wednesday some factory equipment should be in the country next month.
“We are mobilising factory equipment base which might be ready by this May as the hemp nears maturity stage in June,” said Nyirenda.
He said the company has cultivated eight hectares (ha) of hemp which will be ready for harvest in June.
Nyirenda said while Industrial Hemp is like any other crop, the company has to meet legal aspects as industrial hemp is often associated with marijuana—which is an illegal crop to cultivate in the country.
“Industrial hemp has more economic opportunities as we will be extracting the oil for fibre from the seed and produce oil products and it is also edible,” said Nyirenda, who adds that last year, the company imported body wash, shampoo and face wash with hemp seed oil just to give Malawians a feel of the products from Industrial Hemp.
Department of Agriculture Research Services (Dars) chief scientist Laurent Pungulani said research results show that the crop is performing better in Thyolo (Bvumbwe Research Station) because of the cooler weather than Lilongwe’s Chitala Research Station which is hotter.
“However, as this is the first season for the two sites, it is too early to conclude. There is need for proper analysis and conclusion scientifically,” said Pungulani.
But Pungulani warned that although industrial hemp is viable, it will require proper regulations.
Industrial hemp is considered to have economic, medical and nutritional value and government believes that it will help in boosting the economy.
With dwindling earnings from cotton and tobacco sectors, the hemp is believed to offer an opportunity for the country to diversify and attract more foreign exchange.
Government decided to scale up the trials from Chitedze by conducting the study in other agro-economic zones like Vumbwe and Chitala Research Station in Salima. The trials started in 2015, after getting Parliament’s approval.
At Chitedze, 10 varieties from Europe, China and Australia, have been to assess if they have low levels of the psychoactive chemical agents found in marijuana.
