Hemp – A Nutritious Crop That Stores Carbon

Agriculture accounts for a large share of global greenhouse gas emissions and has a significant environmental impact, both in terms of which farming methods and which crops are used. Plant breeding has historically primarily focused on high yields, whereas less attention has been paid to characteristics making the plant resistant to pests such as weeds and fungi. Instead, pesticides are used to deal with these lacking traits, with negative consequences for biodiversity and the environment at large. Most crops also have small root systems with limited carbon sequestration and nutrient-absorbing abilities, traits that are becoming increasingly important considering the climate crisis. Industrial hemp has the potential to be a solution to these problems, but a lack of infrastructure and confusion about the crop’s use have hindered scaling up.

Hemp cultivation can help solve many of the sustainability challenges facing agriculture today. Since the plant is fast-growing and has dense foliage, it is difficult for nearby weeds to grow and thrive, thus eliminating the use of pesticides. The hemp plant’s deep taproot helps improve the nutrient uptake from the soil and makes the crop resistant to both drought and water stress. Hemp also stores 10-15 times more carbon dioxide than cereals. Hemp has the potential to be used as a raw material in food, but it is also seen as an interesting material for the construction and textile sectors.

At Torsåker Farm, Axfoundation’s center for the sustainable food systems of the future, a small-scale cultivation test of EU-certified industrial hemp has been conducted. The hemp seed have been pressed, and the hemp seed press cake has been analyzed within the framework of the Vinnova-funded project Sustainable Hemp Innovations. This project aimed to use different extraction methods to extract, purify, and characterize the proteins in a cost-efficient way.

In the test kitchen at Torsåker Farm, Axfoundation, together with several actors, has investigated which foods hemp seed and hemp seed cake could be used for, and what the possibilities are for utilizing and upgrading these. The aim has been to use hemp as a raw material in innovative, sustainable, flavorsome, and healthy food products.

The potential of hemp as a component in materials has also been investigated. The stems of the hemp plants from Torsåker Farm have been used in tests at Borås Textile College to evaluate the conditions for using the crop’s fiber.

The cultivation area for hemp has been a part of the sample area at Torsåker Farm which is connected to the project Intensive Sampling Site in collaboration with the organization for Swedish carbon sequestration (Svensk Kolinlagring). The hemp was established in the field area that represents maximum carbon storage.

With the hemp project, Axfoundation is aiming to promote the development of more crops that allow farmers to diversify and achieve favorable crop rotation, reduce pesticide use, and increase biodiversity.