The Use of Hemp for Sustainable Textile Production in India
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Hemp, a sustainable and versatile material, faces legal and market challenges despite its environmental benefits. With just a few countries permitting hemp farming, its vast potential in textiles remains largely untapped. Brands like Levis and others champion hemp-based apparel. For India, A policy overhaul and R&D support can drive hemp's growth.
Hemp is currently one of the most sought-after materials for producing fibres in an organic manner for production of apparels. With sustainability in the focus for the textile industry, hemp becomes one of the most researched and sought after material. The hemp fibre is also considered to be a good substitute to cotton. Globally, France and China dominate the hemp production, with France producing 47 per cent and China producing 24 per cent of the entire hemp production in 2021, according to a Textile Exchange report.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? Figure 1:?Hemp Production in China (in tons)
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ? ? ? ? ????? Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Hemp is a stereotyped plant since decades in many countries in Asia. These countries though traditionally have used hemp for a lot of purposes, this plant was banned due to the use of the same to produce narcotics. However, since the last decade, legalisation of hemp is taking place in many countries under the banner of ‘industrial hemp’. Countries like Thailand, many states in the US, Europe and recently India also have legalised the cultivation of hemp for ‘industrial’ purposes. Globally, the production of raw hemp has been increasing at a very slow pace.
?Figure 2: Hemp Production in France (in tons)
There are stringent laws regarding the cultivation of hemp and the production of the same for making fibres. There are multiple challenges in the industry. According to a report by the Iowa state University, there is no appropriate market for hemp when it comes to utilising it for agricultural purposes. Another thing pointed out by the report was the lack of appropriate buyers for the plant. Compared to other plant-based fibres like cotton which have a guaranteed and a secure market for retail purposes, there is no market as such available for hemp, as there are no major apparel producers who are willingly ready to buy hemp for the same. On the other hand, stringent regulations surrounding THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content is making the industrial use of hemp, particularly in India, a bit difficult.
In India, the hemp industry is not flourishing yet due to the legal policies that differ in various states. Only 6 states are involved in the production of hemp: Uttarakhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Although, the Government of India has no strict laws regarding the use of hemp, it has directed the respective state governments to ensure that hemp is only used for the industrial purposes and not for any illegal use. State governments have stringent norms regarding the use of hemp, but only Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have developed policies to govern and regulate the cultivation of hemp.
Environmentally Friendly
A life cycle assessment of the hemp fibre revealed that the fibre is highly sustainable as the production process is highly manual and does not involve any chemicals. Given the fact that it is a fast-growing crop, it barely requires water or herbicides or pesticides. An average hemp crop requires around 500-700 mm of water as compared to cotton which needs 10,000 litres of water for cultivation. Also, the fibre production out of hemp is much higher as compared to cotton or flax. An average hemp plant produces 250 per cent more fibre as compared to cotton and 600 per cent more fibre than flax on the same size of the field. This basically shows that hemp is much more environmentally friendly and has more yield and uses less resources as compared to other naturally grown sources of fibres. With these benefits in focus, it is astonishing to notice that only a total of 30 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America have permitted their farmers to grow industrial hemp.
Companies Producing Apparel Using Hemp
Along with the naturally sourced textile being deemed as sustainable and beneficial for the environment, the fabrics made from hemp can block the ultraviolet rays of the sun by 95 per cent, according to research by the Chinese Academy of Science. Thus, not only can the fabric be safe for the environment but also for the human health. Major brands which produce apparel using hemp include Levis, Patagonia, Jungmaven, The Hemp Trading Company, Hempy’s, Hoodlamb, and The Hempest. These brands use either 100 per cent hemp or have apparel produced using combination of hemp and cotton like Levis. Brands like The Hemp Trading Company, Jungmaven and the Hempy’s use 100 per cent hemp and strive for spreading awareness about sustainable clothing and the environmental impact of using apparel made from sustainable materials like hemp.
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Legal and Industrial Challenges
India has historically recognised the importance of hemp, and traditionally it has been used as an herb with medicinal properties. However, to increase the consumption of whiskey in India, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) was introduced in British India which banned the consumption of hemp related products. With the same historical act in action, the government has not yet regularised the use of the hemp related products in the country.
Hemp which can easily be grown on barren land also has multiple uses apart from the use in textiles. The seed in hemp can be used for vegan purposes. The hemp stalks are now in focus due to the wave of sustainability of the textile industry. However, there are certain states which are launching initiatives for research and cultivation of hemp.
In Andhra Pradesh, the state is in the initial phase of reserving acres of land for the cultivation of hemp along with accommodation for warehouses, and a Research and Development centre. The government aims to use the cultivated hemp for manufacturing products in the medical, cosmetics and the textile sector. Odisha on the other hand is the top producer of industrial hemp. Uttarakhand was the first state to allow the cultivation of the industrial hemp legally. Still there stays a lot of ambiguity on the use of industrial hemp as the current legal framework has no clear instructions on the permissible content of the THC which has put a lot of farmers and the industrialists in confusion.
Still the plant has a lot of opportunities with multiple brands still exploring ways to include hemp in their production process. With Indian soil being very fertile for cultivating hemp, a good revision in the policy along with proper norms on the THC content required in the hemp along with support for the development of R&D centres and market outreach facilities in the initial stage will help the hemp industry to prosper in India.
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IT Student at University of Newcastle
4 个月Is it legal to cultivate or grow hemp in Andhra Pradesh ? I'm just curious about the process. The article mentioned its still in the initial stages but it didn't confirm if its legal to practice cultivation.