Italian Hemp to be Used for Soil Cleanup, Building Materials

*The city of Matera, capital of Matera province, in the Basilicata region.*

By Hemp Today

An initiative in southern Italy aims to boost hemp growing to clean up polluted land while producing hemp stalks for processing into building materials and other fiber-based outputs.

The project, a cooperative effort among the province of Matera, the city of Coldiretti and the National Agency for New Technologies and Sustainable Energy (ENEA), is focused on a contaminated area classified as a “site of national interest” in Basilicata, a region of forests and mountains.

Better in every way

“These polluted land remediation techniques are far less expensive, more efficient and less impactful than conventional ones,” said Gianfranco Romano, Coldiretti’s provincial president, who suggested hemp cultivation could help to clean up polluted industrial lands associated with Valbasento, and energy company located in the province.

Project managers say establishing hemp growing in Matera can also boost employment and economic development by encouraging agricultural entrepreneurship.