Hemp cultivation techniques evaluation for sowing seed production

The production of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) seed for reproductive use in Italy is still unknow for reasons linked not only to agronomic aspects but also of limited availability at acceptable costs of specific technologies present in other areas. The production of hemp seed for reproductive use, not food and oil, requires particular knowledge right from the management of the field crop in order to facilitate harvesting operations by reducing losses and safeguarding the integrity and germination characteristics of the seed. The gradual ripening of the seeds and the reduced cutting height allowed by the traditional machines available on farm represent important bottleneck for this purpose. In recent years, trials have been conducted in more region and the results can be considered very promising for central and south Italy. The present work aims to investigate in two hemp varieties Futura 75 and Fibror 79 in Emilia-Romagna region: The reduction plants height by shortening production cycle; to evaluate the characteristics of the achieve products and the possibility of adapting the development of the crop to the available technologies to reduce harvest costs. This experience showed preliminary test on two region, three varieties and three period of sowing.