EU-Italian funded undertaking goals to develop hemp provide chains in Sicily


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Sicilian officers say they’ll launch a broad-based program geared toward creating native provide chains for industrial hemp.

The initiative, “Canapa New Tech” (“New Tech Hemp”), is beneath the Sicily Rural Growth Program (PSR), which invests in agriculture, forestry and environmental safety. PSR, which is collectively funded by the European Union and the Sicilian Area, has not indicated the extent of funding.

The undertaking will again the event of latest hemp varieties, perform trials in a number of websites, advance new harvesting strategies, help the event of modern applied sciences for the extraction of oils from hemp seeds, and promote hemp merchandise.

Natural & standard

The general objective is to develop natural and standard hemp provide chains for the hemp meals, cosmetics and textile sectors, the Sicily PSR stated in an announcement. The one-year program will run from June 2024 to June 2025 within the provinces of Caltanissetta, Catania, Palermo, Ragusa and Messina.

Hemp advocates in Sicily say the area, with its coastal plains and river valleys, is especially appropriate for hemp farming in the course of the spring-summer season.

Salvatore Zappalà, CEO of Millasensi, Bari, Puglia, which gained the tender to handle New Tech Hemp, stated this system “includes the switch of applied sciences and processes to corporations to turn out to be extra sustainable. For instance, by recovering waste we will improve the true property sector by prototyping new supplies.

“From the fiber sector we will receive bioplastics, wanting particularly on the aerospace and nautical sectors, that are extremely worthwhile,” Zappalà stated.

Actions of this system

In response to PSR, this system will:

  • Strengthen the talents and data of entrepreneurs and operators within the area’s industrial hemp sector.
  • Increase analysis, technological growth and innovation by rising collaboration amongst agricultural corporations, universities and analysis organizations.
  • Assist the event of consultants and specialists in soil administration and sustainable administration strategies in hemp cosmetics, meals and textiles.
  • Apply precision agriculture strategies by way of multispectral drone distant sensing.
  • Set up a climate station to watch temperature, rain, humidity, wind, soil temperature, electrical conductivity and photo voltaic radiation.
  • Perform greenhouse and discipline checks on the mechanization of harvesting and processing operations.
  • Apply modern applied sciences for the extraction of oil and proteins from seeds.
  • Develop modern seed flours, and microwave-assisted hydro-distillation of the terpene fractions for extracts from hemp flowers.

An analogous initiative, Multicanapa, was launched in Sicily in 2021, co-financed by the Italian state and the EU’s European Agricultural Fund for Rural Growth.

With reporting by Canapa Industriale

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