Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine.
History of Hemp Agriculture Archaeologists agree that cannabis was among the first crops purposely cultivated by human beings at least over 6,000 years ago, and perhaps more than 12,000 years ago. Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China, although hemp industrialization probably goes back to ancient Egypt. Thomas Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds from China to France then to America. The War of 1812 was fought over hemp because Napoleon wanted to cut off Moscow's export to England.
 Refusing to grow Hemp in America during the 17th and 18th Centuries was against the law! You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to grow hemp from 1763 to 1769. The first crop grown in many states was hemp. 1850 was a peak year for Kentucky producing 40,000 tons. Hemp was the largest cash crop until the 20th Century; State Archives. Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, came from the richest hemp-growing family in Kentucky.
It takes years for trees to grow until they can be harvested for paper or wood, but hemp is ready for harvesting only 120 days after it is planted. Hemp can grow on most land suitable for farming, but forests and tree farms require large tracts of land available in few locations. Harvesting hemp rather than trees would also eliminate erosion due to logging, thereby reducing topsoil loss and water pollution caused by soil runoff.
Hemp Is 'Environmentally Friendly' Hemp is grown organically. It is naturally resistant to most pests so no pesticides or herbicides are required in its cultivation. An acre field of hemp can yield up to 8 dry tons of fiber, that’s about 3 times more produce than cotton. Hemp makes an extremely durable textile fabric which is four times stronger than cotton.
The same crop will also give 4 times more paper than an acre forest trees. Hemp-paper lasts way longer than tree-paper, there is actually hemp paper more than 1,500 years old which has been found. Hemp paper can also be recycled more times than wood-based paper. Also, hemp grows in about 3 to 4 months, were-as trees take over 20 years to reach a size worth destroying.
Best of all the hemp plant has a rapid rate of photosynthesis; which means more oxygen & LESS CO2! |