|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Opportunity for non-food crops Farmers Weekly staff Farmers Weekly online Monday 10 Nov 2003 UK PRODUCERS have a phenomenal opportunity to grow non-food crops for a massively under-supplied European market, according to the Central Science Laboratory's head of agriculture, Melvyn Askew. Speaking at the Great North Meet conference (7 November), Mr Askew said producers stand to make "real profits" out of non-food crops. He also stressed there is still work to be done and stated that UK producers must act quickly to get ahead of competitors. "Many of the bio-renewable markets are under-supplied by 20% or more," said Mr Askew. "Lack of awareness is one of the main reasons for the slow progress - the manufacturing industry doesn't always realise the benefits of non-food crops. The supply chain is also very fragmented at the moment." He cited hemp as one of the most exciting prospects. "Hemp is already being used by car manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes to replace fibreglass in car panelling. And designer clothes made from high-fibre stinging nettles grown in Austria are selling well in Italian fashion stores." Starch-based products can be used to replace plastic packaging, and more could be done to sell rapeseed oil as a high-quality cooking oil, he added. Mr Askew suggested one of the leading farming organisations should work on bringing the supply chain together. "We need to get organised and start selling non-food crops to these markets,"said Mr Askew. "If UK producers don't act quickly, farmers in other countries will step in and fill the gap."
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!