Hemp is one of the oldest traded plants in the world, and cultivation in Scotland started as far back as the 11th century. Historically, cannabis – the name of the plant from which hemp is derived – was used to produce rope, cloth, lighting oil and medicine from around the year 1000 until the late 1800s.
These days hemp is big business in places like North America and France, but the UK has been much slower to embrace this market, with little production going on or infrastructure to support it. However, our new study makes clear the myriad benefits and opportunities this plant provides – including, crucially, the reduction of carbon emissions and its usefulness in helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
