Two industrial hemp variety trials at Manjimup and Kununurra in Western Australia have provided encouraging results.
Recently completed trials that occurred over 3 years tested 36 varieties at WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute and its Frank Wise Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Kununurra.
Varieties from Australia, Canada, China, France and Poland were evaluated, looking at various aspects such as grain yield, oil and protein content and THC levels. Among the 17 varieties trialled at the Manjimup site, the best performers in terms of yield and content were CFX-2 from Canada, Bialobrzeskie from Poland, ECO-Excalibur from Australia and Henola from Poland.
Sowing time didn’t appear to have much impact on performance, which suggests a planting window of November to December.
At the Kununurra site, 19 industrial hemp varieties were trialled during the winter dry season across different sowing times. The best-performing varieties at that site were Chinese varieties Bama Han Cold King Gee and Yuma. However, in terms of protein content, Bundy Gem from Australia, Futura-75 from France, and Rajan from Poland were the best performers; with an average of 26.6 per cent protein content in the grain for each.
“Late-maturing varieties will yield highest when sown at low densities in April but that comes at the high risk of not being able to harvest the larger plants so May planting is seen to be ideal with less risk to plant establishment,” said Kununurra research scientist Rhys Flynn.
The aim of the joint DPIRD research with AgriFutures Australia was to provide interested growers confidence to select varieties of industrial hemp suited to their operations.
Industrial hemp production in Western Australia is regulated under the Industrial Hemp Act 2004 for food, seed and fibre purposes. For food applications, hemp seed is prized for its nutritional profile; particularly high in protein and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
As elsewhere in Australia, therapeutic cannabinoid production from industrial hemp is not permitted in WA as that falls under medicinal cannabis, which is licenced by the Australian Government through the Office of Drug Control (ODC).
The Industrial Hemp Registrar is responsible for issuing licences in WA. Licensees can only use seed harvested from an industrial hemp crop demonstrated to have a THC level of less than 0.5%. Resulting crops must not exceed 1% THC.
