Industrial hemp and circular economy. A promising agricultural supply chain - which is rooted in a culture of which Italy boasts historical and productive primacy, second only to the Soviet Union until the post-war period - risks going up in smoke. Together with the yellow-green government that sent in tilt
the faithful application of the laws of the State and applicable European regulations. Without getting lost in the moonlight of politicians and judges out of context, already moreoverdenied by those who understand by right , it's time to look forward. To favor the recovery of a lively and vital economic sector, waiting for the next sowing.
Industrial hemp and circular economy
La Cannabis sativa L..it is an annual plant with dioecious flowering (that is, it generates both male and female plants). It belongs to the Cannabaceae family, which includes 11 genera and 170 plant species. The first appearance of the Cannabisit is traced back to around 5000 BC, in Central Asia. Over the millennia the plant has been mainly used for fibers, textile production, oil (also for fuel use) and therapeutic uses. In fact, it contains numerous compounds of proven health benefits such as cannabinoids (Appendino, Chianese and Taglialatela-Scafati, 2011), terpenes (Ross & ElSohly, 1996), flavonoids (Vanhoenacker, Van Rompaey, De Keukeleire and Sandra, 2002) and other substances (Brenneisen, 2007).
The circular economyis the development modelsustainable to which this crop is naturally suited. In agriculture it lends itself to reducing the ecological impact of anthropogenic activities and decreasing the consumption of soil and water, in comparison with many other arable crops. It can therefore help mitigate climate change and the desertification, so also a preserve biodiversity. It is profitable for farmers, it lends itself to rotations as well as to replace surplus or low-paying crops.
Seeds, flowers and leavesthey lend themselves to valid uses in the food sector, nutraceutical, phytotherapeutic and cosmetic. Stems and residues of the noblest processes can instead be used to make fabrics, green building materials, bioplastics, soil improvers for agricultural uses. Last but not least, biomass to generate energy. Zero waste.
Cannabinoidsare a unique class of terpenophenolic compounds for cannabis plants, accumulated mainly in the cavity of trichomes (Kim & Mahlberg, 1997). More than 80 cannabinoids have been isolated from C. sativa (Elsohly & Slade, 2005).
Cannabis sativa L.., botanical classification
Carl Linnaeus(1707-1778) - Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician known as 'the father of modern taxonomy' - was the first to record the use of Latin binomials to classify plants. With the Plantarum species(1753), the starting point of modern botanical nomenclature. The name of the species, from the Latin cannabis(barrel), is inspired by the morphology of the stem. The name of the genus - Sativa, from sativus(derivative of status, past participle of greenhouses, sow) indicates gamic or sexual propagation, from seed (Raman, 1998).
'And I'll sing the hemp, and the real cultureof such a noble shoot, that in the fields of Italy, and more than elsewhere, in the Bolognese land, and in the nearby florid enclosure, (where there is a land, what city can be said, both in itself, and in its worthy and illustrious inhabitants today is prized in the world) rises and greens, and shady woods form, when the fervent season begins to cook the air, and as long as the Lion roars in the sky, it hards to cast a shadow on the earth '. (Girolamo Baruffaldi, priest and man of letters, 1675-1755)
Cannabis, according to the modern classification system, it belongs to the Cannabaceae family, together with the genus Humulusof which hops are a member (Turner, Elsohly and Boeren, 1980). Over the centuries, thanks to the natural increase of genetic varieties in populations and to the selections made by man, different varieties of hemp have been developed. This gave rise to various debates, in botany, which did not allow for a general agreement on the taxonomic rank of various groups within the Cannabis genus (Hazekamp, โโJustin, Lubbe, & Ruhaak, 2010).
More recent taxonomic studies, (1) based on molecular analysis (chemotaxonomy), divide phenotypes based on quantitative differences in the ratio between tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabinol (CBN), on the one hand, and cannabidiol (CBD). (2) Based on these studies, it is currently considered appropriate to classify hemp in relation to industrial, medical or food supplement and recreational use.
Cannabis sativa L.., accepted varieties and agricultural aids
In Europe, the only one Cannabis Sativa L. ('raw hemp, macerated, scalloped, combed or otherwise prepared, but not spun') is classified as an' agricultural product '. And it is therefore subject to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), under the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU). (3). The reg. CE 73/09, in line with reg. CE 1782/03, specifies that aid in agriculture is allowed 'only if the cultivated varieties have a tetrahydrocannabinol content not exceeding 0,2%'. (4) EU Reg. 220/15 in turn mentions hemp among the 'industrial plants', with regard to the production of seeds and crops.
Oats it is therefore allowed and eligible for CAP aid. Provided that the cultivated plants belong to the botanical species included in the Single European Catalog of admitted varieties. (5) Which have been selected on the basis of their low content of psychotropic substances (THC). And so, of the safety of the products derived from them. In any case, operators are recommended to adopt the measures and precautions indicated in previous articleon the topic.
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Taxonomy, in the natural sciences, includes the rules of nomenclature and techniques for the theoretical study of the phylogenetic classification of living beings. Originally based on essentially morphological and morphometric criteria, this branch of science now also uses biomolecular, physiological and serological analysis techniques, with the aid of statistical tools
(2) If the (THC + CBN) / CBD ratio is less than 1, the plants are classified as a type of fiber. Otherwise as 'chemo-type', for pharmaceutical use or (Fetterman et al., 1971). This approach was then followed to distinguish chemotype, intermediate type, and fiber type (Turner, Cheng, Lewis, Russell, & Sharma, 1979)
(3) TFEU, art. 38 and Annex I, see 57.01
(4) See reg. CE 1782/03 (art.52), reg. CE 73/09 (cons. 29, articles 39 and 87). The reg. CE 73/09 introduces control measures to analyze the THC content, also to verify accessibility to national economic benefits (Annex I). The same criteria are then taken from the reg. EU 1307/13 laying down rules on direct payments to farmers under the support schemes provided for by the common agricultural policy. Where it is in fact reaffirmed that 'the areas used for the production of hemp are eligible hectares only if the tetrahydrocannabinol content of the cultivated varieties does not exceed 0,2%'(EU reg. 1307/13, art. 22.6)
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and รgalitรฉ.
