FAYETTE COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Year two of UK's Hemp Research Pilot Program is underway. Thursday, researchers from the school's College of Agriculture gathered to plant more hemp for the 2015 projects.
Last year, the university planted less than tenth of an acre. This year, they're planting hemp on 30 acres.
UK Ag leaders say last year's pilot program was so small, it limited their ability to learn much from the planting and production. This year, they're hoping to cover a lot more ground. The university already has three studies set up to investigate various uses of the crop.
One study will address fiber production, another cannabinoid production, and a third will take a look at manipulating plant growth to try and keep seeds smaller at harvest time. In all, 99 pilot projects will research crop production techniques.
"All the varieties we grew last year were bred primarily for fiber so we didn't really have any that were bred for grain or for cannabinoid production, so we've greatly expanded the different lines that we're investigating this year," explained David Williams, with the University of Kentucky.
The hemp research team will return to the fields in June, at which time they will plant more hemp seeds to be used in grain research.
For more information on the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program, you can visit the link on the left.
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