South Canterbury farmer David Musgrave says he will have no problems finding a market for hemp, should the Government allow cultivation of the plant on a trial basis.
A Ministry of Health working group is on the verge of recommending New Zealand begin trial planting of hemp this spring.
Musgrave wants to be one of the first to trial hemp and plans to process the plant's seeds into oil which he will sell as a health supplement.
He says there are many uses for commercially cultivated hemp as the fibre can been used as a raw ingredient for paper, cloth and building materials.
The working group was set up last year to advise Health Minister Annette King on the safety of industrial hemp cultivation.
Hemp is a cash crop in many nations, but as a member of the same plant family as cannabis, it been blocked from being grow commercially in New Zealand.
It is understood a sub-committee of the Health Ministry's working group has agreed to allow hemp into the country on a trial basis.
The full working group is expected to endorse that finding this week, with a recommendation going to King at the end of the month.
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