Pasquale Campi

Potential productivity of fibre hemp in southern Europe

SummaryHemp cultivation is not new to the southern regions, but cultivated area is decreasing. Recently, there has been a rediscovery of this crop, as a result of requests from the producers of natural fibres.The paper synthesizes the studies recently set up in southern Italy, with the goal of evaluating the adaptation and the yield of recent genotypes and of new agronomic techniques. The study demonstrates that, with the exception of the monoicious cultivars, the new genotypes of hemp are adapted to the environmental conditions of the Mediterranean Europe, reaching productive standards not lower than those obtained in other environments.The use of irrigation is indispensable for overcoming the prolonged water deficit which hemp is subject to during its cultivation cycle. A good irrigation practice consists in the partial satisfaction of the water requirements. The experimental evidence indicates that the best productive results are obtained with the reintegration of 66% of the water lost through evapotranspiration.A further saving in water is obtained with the anticipation of the sowing period, with, however, a loss in productive potential.Hemp can be considered, in all respects, a species to reintroduce in the current cultivation systems of southern Europe. It will be possible to increase its potential provided that breeding supplied new varieties, more tolerant to low temperatures (in order to anticipate the sowing time), and able to obtain economically profitable yields with the use of limited irrigation.