We have been talking to India Hemp & Co about a potential investment opportunity through Rainmatter Health for the following reasons.
What is Hemp?
Hemp - A superfood and a supplement!
● One of the most sustainable, planet-friendly plants around – it’s also extremely nutritious.
● A super-food with an amazing nutritional profile, keeping your mind & body nourished and healthy!
● Rich in dietary fibre, protein, omega 3, 6, iron, zinc, magnesium & vitamins B and E.
● It contains all 9 essential amino acids and is packed with antioxidants.
Firstly Hemp and Marijuana aren’t the same. While they are two varieties of the same basic plant, Cannabis Sativa, they look different, grow differently and have different uses and benefits. Hemp doesn’t get you high 
because the THC content is extremely low compared to Marijuana.
Check this article for more
Anyways, while reading up on Hemp, I landed on the below article which has a summary of this detailed study.
Highlighting a few points
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Hemp is an amazing plant. It uses a fraction of the water needed to grow cotton, every part is useful and it absorbs more carbon dioxide per hectare than other crops and most trees.
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Cultivated for thousands of years, the eco-friendly plant can be used in food products, biofuels, textiles and even building materials.
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As a renewable product, the opportunities are sustainable. This is extremely important as countries try to boost their economies while protecting the environment.
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Hemp can grow in a wide variety of climates in most parts of the world, can be planted on land not suitable for other crops and helps to replenish the soil by removing heavy metals and other contaminants.
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It’s also beneficial when included in crop rotation. The report notes, for example, that hemp cultivation leads to a 10% to 20% increase in wheat yields.
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In Africa, 80% or more of the cotton plant’s total mass is burned or discarded, contributing to heavy pollution. In India, suffocating smoke engulfs parts of the country each autumn as farmers burn cotton fields to clear harvest leftovers. On some days, agricultural fires contribute to about half of Delhi’s deadly pollution.
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Since all parts of the plant – roots, flowers, fruit, stems and leaves – can be used, growing hemp will lead to much less waste and pollution than other crops, whose discarded parts can have a huge ecological footprint.
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Hemp cultivation may help to maximize the use of land and may also contribute to increasing the incomes of farmers and rural communities.
While there is bound to be regulatory greyness given that Hemp and Marijuana are from the same family, maybe that could be a conversation to be had with the Government on.
The team from India Hemp mentioned that Himachal and Uttarakhand Governments want to promote Hemp. There is also interest from the Andhra Govt.
On my questions on yield for the farmers, this is what they mentioned.
One acre of hemp produces 1000-1200 kgs of fiber (used for fabric and paper).
Current fiber (Hemp stalk) is priced at Rs. 80-100 per kg.
Income range 80,000 -120,000.
One acre of hemp produces 400-500 kgs of hemp seeds.
Current prices are at Rs. 80-150 per kg.
Income range 32,000 - 75000.
One acre of hemp can fetch approx Rs. 5000 for leaves and medical purposes.So a farmer can make between 1.2 lakhs - 2 lakhs from hemp per acre, per cycle.
These numbers may vary depending on the geographical location and seed quality.
While the Rs 1.2lks to Rs 2lks number seems outrageous and unlikely to hold up if this scales, even a 15 to 20% of this number would mean quite a bit for the farmer.
It will be interesting to hear if anyone here has evaluated Hemp.
for introducing us to Hemp.