Hemp Breeding programs

 The industry of breeding companies in canada specialized in hemp seed is growing after industrial hemp was re-introduced in Canada in 1998 (hempgenetics, 2014). And so, the breeding of the seeds from European origin began. The Seeds from europe were mainly used for fiber so they were tall plants while the primary focus in Canada was grain production, but later, seeds for fiber, or dual purpose seeds were bred. The breeding mainly focusses on plant height for fiber, and seed quantity, but also the to make hemp a "farmer friendly crop" (hempgenetics, 2014)
Other traits include:
- excellent harvestability
- acceptable market quality
- reliable low THC content- rapid development and multiplication of new improvements
- improved herbicide tolerance

 To obtain preferable traits, non-GMO methods are used (hemptrade, R Crawford). They use advanced biotechnology platforms like
– Genomics 
– Reverse Genetics 
– Molecular (DNA) Markers 
– Classical
(Industrial Hemp Plant Breeding & Harvesting, K Watson)


Bibliography:
- http://www.pihg.net/production/
- http://www.hempgenetics.com/html/research/research.html
http://www.compositesinnovation.ca/biofibre_workshop/Hemp_Harvesting_and_Plant_Breeding_in_Canada_-_Keith_Watson.pdf
- http://www.producer.com/2014/06/american-researchers-interested-in-canadian-made-hemp-seed/
http://www.hemptrade.ca/source/Hemp%20Report%20Final_1.pdf








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