The Department of Agriculture and Food hopes that new hemp trials in Kununurra can create another market for growers after the collapse of the sugar industry. The department began planting 30 hectares of hemp for a private company at its Kununurra research station yesterday. But growers have mixed feelings about the crop's value, after a similar departmental trial failed in 2000.
The department's Gae Plunket says if this trial is a success, it may pave the way for Kununurra growers to export the fibre to China. "The last trials here were in 2000 and the varieties we grew up here that time didn't grow very well at all," she said. "We had very low yields, we were actually even lucky to get the quantity of seed back that we planted so it was a bit sad.
"We're hoping to get something like 100 tonne a hectare of fibre off these crops to make them worth your while."
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Copyright: 2008, ABC
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Hopes high for new hemp trials - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)