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Hemp crop - Source: ONE News -
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It has taken several years of campaigning and two years of fighting bureaucracy but a Southland man is finally growing New Zealand's first commercial crop of generic hemp.
Mack McIntosh says the nine fingered plant is amazing and has much to offer the New Zealand economy.
"About a kilo of seeds off each of these, which is 40,000 seeds which amazing for a plant," McIntosh says.
The hemp is NZ's first generic cultivar crop and McIntosh wants people to get past the cannabis or marijuana hysteria and concentrate on the productivity of the plant.
Unlike its distant cousin with a bad reputation, industrial hemp has no pscyhoactive properties and it has been thoroughly tested.
"Any thoughts of rendering it down and eventually winding up with something that was useful in the drug scene is just nonsense," says McIntosh.
He is excited about the plant's multitude of uses.
"Hempseed is good for foodstuffs, cosmetics and soaps, the stalk is good for fibreboard, insulation material, the biomass is also good for clothing and biodegradable plastics."
It took McIntosh two years of fighting bureaucracy, but he finally got the go ahead to grow his special crop - dubbed Aotearoa One.
The crop is already drawing interest from other farmers and has the full support of the local agricultural development board.
"Tremendous opportunity for farmers in the Clutha district and throughout New Zealand," Malcolm Deverson from the Clutha Agricultural Development Board says.
Hemp thrives below 46 degrees south and could be the future of southern agriculture.
