Pakistan to Grow Hemp For Manufacturing & Export of Industrial and Medicinal Products

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan government has decided to permit hemp farming for industrial and medicinal use, according to Mr. Fawad Chaudhry, Minister of Science and Technology. Initially, the government will control hemp production, Chaudhry said, but private businesses and farmers will be allowed to enter the market at a later date, according to the French news agency AFP.

Hemp ( بھنگ ) plants grow wild like weeds in many parts of Pakistan, particularly in Potohar region where the nation's capital Islamabad is located. Hemp is one of the oldest plants on record as having been used to benefit humans. Hemp is known to have at least 50,000 different uses.  In South Asia, people have been cultivating hemp to make ropes and bags and to smoke hashish for centuries.

The government has picked International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) to help regulate hemp products in Pakistan, according to HempToday, a publication that covers the hemp industry. Located at the University of Karachi, it has all the equipment and expertise needed for validation and compliance certification of hemp products in the country, according to Dr. Iqbal Chaudhry, the Center’s Director. He said Pakistan can develop value-added products for export using ICCBS’s research facilities. 

Hemp (بھنگ) Applications

It is hard to tell hemp and marijuana plants apart. Both look the same. However, unlike marijuana, hemp does not contain large amount of high-inducing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which can be addictive. However, it can still be used to produce CBD (cannabinoid) for medical purposes.  US Law requires that hemp not contain more than 0.3% THC.

In addition to using CBD in food and medicine, there are many different industrial uses of hemp as well. It can be used in textiles, paper, building materials and body care products.

Pakistan can export CBD to European Union and the United States where it has been legalized and being used to fight the side effects of cancer chemotherapy. The estimated global current market opportunity for CBD is about $25 billion."This hemp market could provide Pakistan with some $1 billion (in export earnings) in the next three years and we are in a process of making a full-fledged plan for this purpose," Mr. Chaudhry told the media recently. He also said that with cotton production in Pakistan declining due to various factors, hemp provided farmers with a viable alternative.

Hemp is probably the strongest natural fiber known to man. It has been used to make ropes, bags and textile fabrics for centuries. Rope beds, known as charpais, are still a common sight in rural Pakistan. Using hemp instead of trees in making paper and packaging materials can help save Pakistan's meager forests, and help diversify exports to earn valuable foreign exchange.

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[Riaz Haq]

First officially planted #cannabis (bhang) crop ready for harvest in #Pakistan. Cannabis is 10 times more beneficial than other drugs and #hemp fiber made from it could be a good substitute for #cotton in anti-microbial #clothing #textiles https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/634089-#.YcUOKieO-w0.twitter

The federal minister of Science and Technology Shibli Faraz on Thursday inaugurated the harvesting of first crop of bhang (Cannabis) cultivated on an official level.

At the inaugural ceremony, the federal minister said that the first crop of bhang (Cannabis) planted on the government level has been successfully prepared in three and a half months.

According to the details, the seeds of cannabis plant were brought from Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan, and their cultivation was done on an area of one acre.

The federal minister on this occasion reiterated the benefits of cannabis plantation and its usage in the medicine industry. He said that the plantation of cannabis is 10 times more beneficial than other drugs and we will not focus on the negative elements. The minister also added that Bhang could prove to be an alternate crop for cotton.

“A seed of bhang is worth US$12 in the international market and encouraging its lawful export will help in curbing its illicit trade,” Shibli Faraz said.

Shibli Faraz further added that according to the vision of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, the mass level production of Zaitoon (olive) has also been initiated. With this, there will be more foreign exchange savings.

Agricultural experts have opined that in order to fulfill the international market demand of cannabis, Pakistan has to be fully prepared.

[Riaz Haq]

LEVI’S URGED TO SIGN PAKISTAN ACCORD: ‘WE REALLY NEED BRANDS TO STEP UP’


https://sourcingjournal.com/denim/denim-brands/levis-protest-times-...

With the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,100 garment industry workers in Bangladesh and maimed scores of others serving as a backdrop, labor and human rights activists took to Times Square on Friday to protest U.S. denim giant Levi’s, which has refused to sign the Pakistan Accord addressing safety in the garment sector.

To date, 49 apparel companies have signed the Accord, a binding, three-year agreement empowering independent safety investigators to inspect more than 300 Pakistani manufacturing facilities and guarantee certain health and safety provisions for workers. Another 52,000 individuals have signed a petition asking Levi’s to sign on as well.

“We really need brands to step up because the conditions we saw in Rana Plaza 10 years ago are very similar to the conditions we see today in Pakistan,” Ayesha Barenblat, founder and CEO of Remake, one of several organizations on hand for the Friday demonstration, told Sourcing Journal. “We just haven’t seen enough leadership from American brands, and Levi’s claims to be a sustainable brand that has a big presence in Pakistan and Bangladesh.”

Friday’s demonstration featured bullhorn speeches reminding passersby of times when U.S. factory workers were subject to the same dangers and substandard conditions that many in places like Bangladesh and Pakistan are today. Prior to that, protestors stood with signs in front of the Levi’s store and four of them lay on the ground covered in white shrouds to represent the four workers who died after breathing in toxic fumes at the Artistic Milliners denim factory in Karachi, Pakistan in January 2022. Meanwhile, activist leaders Khalid Mahmood from the Labor Education Foundation of Pakistan and Nazma Akter, founder of the Bangladeshi Awaj Foundation, tried to enter the storefront, they said, to personally deliver a letter to Levi’s management, but were turned away by store employees and police. Ultimately, event organizers said, the store manager agreed to pass the letter on to corporate offices.