The national and Eastern Cape departments of agriculture, the CSIR and the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) are involved in a pilot project aimed at encouraging Eastern Cape farmers to grow hemp and flax for the textile industry and through it, boost the economy.
The project will be established by the Cacadu district municipality and could become a flagship project in the Eastern Cape, along the two main industrial development zones, the automotive industry and angora goat and sheep farming.
According to Abisha Temba, CSIR fibres and textiles manager, the main objective is to exploit these plants to extract long and short fibres. "Growing and processing flax and hemp will provide a new industry that is viable and has the potential to be worth millions, if farmers get the required interventions in terms of government subsidies," he says.
Hemp, as part of the Cannabis sativa familiy, is illegal in South Africa. Various government departments, led by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and parastatals, such as the ARC's Institute of Industrial Crops (ARC-IIC) and the CSIR, are involved in a review process of current legislation that prohibits commercial cultivation of hemp that can culminate in possible changed legislation. Research conducted by the DoA, the ARC-IIC and the CSIR has found that the Eastern Cape has the right climate for the cultivation of hemp and flax. The plants have the added advantage of being grown in summer and winter, respectively. This will enable farmers to grow both plants in different seasons, ensuring all-year crops, and without having to acquire new technologies.
Sunshine Blouw, manager of the CSIR's natural fibre centre, says the CSIR will provide technical assistance in evaluating relevant processing and production technologies needed to establish a hemp and flax processing facility accessible to growers of these fibre cash crops.
- CSIR
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