The first group of farmers trained by hemp textiles pioneer Green Route Hemp Industries is due to plant its first crop after completing their theoretical training.
CEO Mahlatsi Mohlala (pictured here) told Cannabiz Africa that the company will dispatch batches of seed to the trained farmers soon for them to plant their first hemp seed.
Green Route is an Agricultural Sector Education Training Authority (AgriSETA)-accredited company that runs a “We Train to Buy” programme for interested parties – farmers, entrepreneurs and organisations – to grow hemp for textiles per its specifications; the company then buys back the hemp.
It is a vertically-integrated hemp processing centre that supplies to retail and industrial markets. It applies sustainable ecological environment-conserving practices in the production of hemp fabrics and bags and aims for effective animal health products use.
“There are a clear set of growing specifications that farmers must follow to meet our quality standards as well as ongoing support and advice during the growing process. We buy and pay the parties based on the quality of crop supplied as an accredited and trained farmer who we will be buying/offtaking from,” said Mohlala.
The farmers receive an AgriSETA-endorsed certificate, offtake agreement and handbook on how to plant for fibre and textiles as well as financial training and costing that provides a 1-hectare breakdown when planting for fibre.
“We have trained about 50 individual farmers to date and that equates to about 40 farms,” stated Mohlala who said the arrangement is two years old.
Most of the participating farmers are from North West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Free State, with a small contingent from KwaZulu-Natal.
“Our training is an AgriSETA-accredited, NQF level 3 & 5 for courses including nursery person/supervisor and crop produce analyst so you leave with the confidence, practical skills and nationally recognised certification needed to succeed in South Africa’s growing hemp industry,” states Green Route Hemp Industries.
Course details and fees can be viewed at www.greenroutehemp.co.za.
The training course is a full-day hands-on session offering in-class tutoring and a farm visit to the Hemp Fibre Farm in Wakerville in Joburg that showcases hemp cultivation, harvesting, retting and basic primary processing methods. It starts at 10:30 until 15:00.
“It teaches farmers how to plant for fibre and gives them a more open view of the industry before they put the seed in the ground,” said Mohlala.
No landraces are distributed for the Green Route programme as only certain selected varieties that have been proven as suitable for the end product are involved, according to Mohlala.
“We Train to Buy” is privately-run and separate from the government-supported indigenous landrace sandbox currently trialling local strains and designed to support the commercialisation of local hemp farmers and entrepreneurs in terms of the Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) Act and Plant Improvement Act (PIA).
However, Green Route Hemp Industries is looking to work with key IKS figures to start incorporating local landrace genetics into its value chain in order to capture more Proudly South African value.
#
