The University of Kentucky has officially begun its second year of research on industrial hemp. With the help of Kentucky Department of Agriculture, researchers in the University of Kentucky held a field day Aug. 13th. At this field day, the university displayed the hemp projects that they are working on. Last year, the projects that would have been put on display would have been restricted to the production of fiber. This year, however, experiments led by KAg agronomists David Williams and Rich Mundell include a wide variety of products including fiber, grains, and even cannabinoids. The benefits of cannabinoids are very strongly geared towards food and health benefits.
“Our work has expanded greatly this year to include all three harvestable components of hemp,” Williams said. “We are hoping to optimize grower profitability through these small plot studies.”
The experiments that have been done include three other quality types of fiber. The project is comparing its hemp fiber to these other varieties to find out which is the strongest. Overall, the project overlooks two methods and three timing of harvest at different plant maturities. Other projects only have two hemp varieties for both fiber and grain. Some other research tests have been done with other schools such as Murray State University, Western Kentucky University, and Eastern Kentucky University.
There is only one student in history to be focused only on hemp research during this time: Leah Black. Black’s research is mainly keyed in on the production of cannabinoid. Not only are these being added to food and dietary supplements, medical fields are also trying to find other therapeutic uses for them. At the moment, cannabinoids that are used in food and nutrition products are imported from outside the U.S. What Black is trying to learn is whether or not female hemp plants are more fruitful. Black is also going to begin an experiment that will be working with seeds and their densities.
“It’s a very familiar process for our Kentucky tobacco farmers, which is who we are trying to center the experimental design on. We still have a lot to learn, especially when it comes to harvest, but it’s definitely a point of interest for us to try to preserve the equipment that our farmers are used to,” is what Black had to say.
MAPH Enterprises, LLC | (305) 414-0128 | 1501 Venera Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146 | new@marijuanastocks.com
