Textile hemp trials have been successfully carried out in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany, thanks to the Interreg NWE Hemp4Circularity project. These trials involved two varieties of hemp, USO and San27, under the coordination of the Wallonia and Flanders regions in Belgium, as well as the Netherlands and Germany, on areas of 3 hectares per region. In France, the Lin et Chanvre Bio association has also played an active role in gathering a vast amount of data on existing hemp crops. All this information will be analysed statically over the coming months, so that the results can be assessed.
Integrating hemp into the textile value chain
The Interreg project "Hemp4Circularity" (H4C) aims to implement hemp into the textile value chain in the North-West Europe (NWE) region. Started in March 2023, the project incorporates a wide range of activities, including field trials and crop monitoring in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France.
These initial activities have made it possible to collect essential data on various parameters, including plant density after sowing and at harvest time. The straws were parallelized in the same way as the flax, using the Sativa 200 machine, which was improved during the mechanical workshop run by Hyler. The straw was then retted, turned and baled, before being transported to the barns for safe storage while awaiting the scutching stage.
All the data collected over the summer will now be submitted to a statistical analyst.
A good harvest
The crops grew well in general and were able to be retted and baled on time, despite some delay in the harvesting phase. This delay was due to the extremely wet conditions over the summer, which led to a late harvest of the straw, mainly between mid-August and the end of August. The quality of the retted straw will be assessed during the next stages of the project, namely scutching, hulling and spinning.
Interested in the project?
The Hemp4Circularity project will cover all stages of the hemp processing chain. Whether you are a grower, a scutcher, a hackler, a spinner, a weaver, a knitter or a designer, if you are interested in the potential of textile hemp, we highly encourage you to get in touch. The coming months will bring a series of activities that might catch your interest.
Among those activities, training sessions for farmers and entrepreneurs will start this winter. A training course to become ambassador for textile hemp will be scheduled for 2025. Workshops and conferences for students and brands will also be organised on themes such as the art of weaving.
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