To get track of the place where the plant of Cannabis Sativa was born and when, since its very origins, started to be cultivate and spread, it is really impossible. From the low course of the river Danube to east China these plants are spontaneous, hence its eastern origins. It was by means of the Scythians that hemp was brought to Europe around 1500 B.C. Romans started its cultivation in Italy around 300 B.C.
In the recent past Italy has been the second country in the world in its production. During the decade 1903 - 1913 the hectars cultivated with hemp were 79.477 with an annual revenue of 795.000 quintals. Our production was second only to the Russian . For the quality of its fiber (Carmagnola and Fibranova), Italy was the first on the international market. In 1958 begun the crisis and synthetic fiber substituted natural fibers, hemp was completely forgotten with the arrival of nylon. Up to 1964 in the Naples area farmers fought very hard to keep the cultivation going, but everything was useless: in the end ships went on without hemp ropes and sails, textile companies found more advantage in the use of synthetic materials, vegetable oils were substituted by news artificial ones and the old, precious hemp that so much did for us in the centuries, was charged of the "drug" title.
During recent years, though, several different factors changed this attitude and grew the interest foward this cultivation in many European Countries. The European Community, with a Counsel Regulation n. 1308 dated 29/06/70 has fixed for cellulose hemp fiber producers an economical help for every cultivated hectare. This help is given only for fiber productions, obtained by certified seeds and recoorded in a list where there are also all the others species in which THC quantity (the psycoactive substance of the marijuana drug) comparing to the weight of a sample with constant weight, is not superior to 0,3% (art.3, par.1 Reg. C.E. 619/71 as modified by art. 1 Reg. C.E. 2059/84).
In Italy, as shown by a research couducted by the National Health Institute and several University Institutes since 1984, the same type of European hemp for cellulose fibre, cultivated in different climates, can present a higher or lower percentage of psycoactive substance following the different local ecological factors, but this variation will be kept among very low values with no drug effects. Italy, until 1998, was quite a unique case in the agricultural world of Europe as it was the only Country that did not use the economical help of 1.440.000 for hectars; all this because of the decree 309\90 (L. Jervolino - Vassalli art. 26). Our law has the problem of creating confusion, instead than making everithing clear, cultivating hemp is in fact legal. The text of the law talkes only of Cannabis Indica, meaning with this name (not accepted by scientific communities) only the THC cannabis, contrarily to the european law that does not create any confusion. In Europe it is only the hemp with the highest THC quantity to be forbidden, all the rest producing fibre is perfectly safe.
During another congress "A thousand and one ... hemp" that took place in caserta in 1997 there was a communication from the Agricultural Resources Ministry dated 2/12/97 prot. 1° 0734 and signed by the Minister Michele Pinto that authorized the start for the cultivation of 1000 hectares of hemp form the following spring 1998 - 99. From that congress it was evident the need to create a real productive mechanism putting together, and very fast: farmers, industial managers and artisans.
In this way a national association was born, called "Assocanapa" which goal is to coordinate a national body of all the energies on the national territory and the organization of these forces. The first obstacle to avercome to restart this type of cultivation was finding the certiferd seed in Italy. A congress held in Carmagnola (TO) in February 1958 has analyzed the problem. Seeds had to be bought in France (the only nation, in that period that kept the certified varieties obtaining the European Community bonus ( So far some other types, from Hungary and Rumenia, have been added). In Italy about 360 hectares have been cultivated with hemp: Campania, Emilia, Toscana, Marche, Piemonte.
What are the reasons? What factors can bring to success? What is the actual situation and the future developments?


REASONS
These are the same for all the rest of alternative cultivations not aiming to reach the alimentary sector. The European Community with some other communications and administrative measures is trying to stop the surplus production trough a series of measures, among wich there is the productive redevelopment, to obtain row materials of wich the European Community is usually lacking , today or in the future, or materials for completely new uses. In all member countries there are several projects, researches mainly concerning starch processes, energy, fibres, technological oils, colourings, sweeteners and, generally speaking, of vegetable raw materials for industry.
We are talking of mass productions with an industial demand of large supplies and meaning wide cultivated surfaces, or very limited demands with very high value added, of productions, obtainable from niche cultivations. Some countries have destined ample public resources to this goal but also private ones, and have therefore started a first stage of operative development. Italy is still in the pre-operative and pre-measures phase.
The reasons to develop non-alimentary cultivations are not only in sinchronicity with the suggestions and administrative measures of the European Community, but are also of topical interest. On the others hand this is very clear from the first information on agenda 2000: it is a real revolution in agriculture, meaning and bringing significat changes in the profitability of traditonal cultivatios and therefore making extremely interesting non-alimentary cultivations.
Furthermore, the commitment of Kyoto Conference, signed by Italy as well for the reduction of gas emissions in the atmosphere, pushes towards these cultivations. The environmental goal will probably be the winning reason to promote hemp, both for the production process and for the characteristics of the several products offered to consumers.

FACTORS OF SUCCESS
To reintroduce a cultivaton that has been abandoned for a while there are same rules to keep in mind :
-it needs to enter in the cultivation cycle creating no problems to the next cultivation and with positive interactions, eg. using the leftovers effects of the last cultivations, making possible to improve or at least to keep the profitabitity for the whole period unchanged.
-it needs to use the same, or with very little changes, agricultural equipment already existing.
-it needs to be cultivated with low environmental impact so to reduce the chemical and energetic impact in the environment.
-it needs to give relatively constant productions during the years so to ensure the industial needs.
-it needs high quality characteristic answering to the demand of the transformation industry.
-it needs to have enough of the right genetic material so to cover the cultivated surfaces.
-it needs a good organization to grant the pick up and the preservation of the product and, if necessary, the first stage of processing.
With all these information the farmer will be able to calculate the production level obtainable, the costs, the break even point and decide if it is more or less convenient to start the cultivation.


PERSPECTIVES
Hemp is giving very good results both from an agronomical than from an environmental point of view. It is perfectly able to be included in the most part of the existing rotations and to constitute a very good base for new solutions.
As everybody knows, hemp is the typical "cleansing" cultivation, because of its speed of growth and the ability to select the light rays it is a winner with most of the infesting weeds.
We need to point out that of great interest could be introducing this cultivation not only for rotation, but also in abandoned fields or in weak soil fields as a potential cleansing cultivation, competitive against weeds, or to limit the erosion damages.


USES
Hemp has to be considered a multipurpose cultivation if only for the final uses of the stalk. There are new sectors toward which this material is going to be used: bio - building industry, zootechny, plants and flowes nurseries, etc) for which we can forsee a widening market. In the actual market the vegetable fibre use is large, about 1.8 g. tons. In the single European Community there are packing and wrapping materials for about 6 tons per year of plants materials that could be easily replaced by polymers or vegetable fibres. Even of mixture materials in the European Community there is around 400.000 tons of fibreglass, unrecyclable with easy to imagine costs and problems to solve. Even in this case we can replace everything by vegetable fibres. Another sector with a very promising future is the one of bio-textiles, which use will be more and more important to limit the soil erosion. We foresee that already from the begining of the year 2.000 the market will be able to absorb around 70 milion tons. We cannot forget the bio-building industry where hemp can replace or be mixed with polystirol to enlighten concrete mixtures with the less noble part of the hemp stalk, the "canapulo". This part can also be used as layer for mushrooms cultivations, flower and plant beddings, and so on. Hemp cultivation could be a very good chance to put into practice an environmental philosophy that, putting together the needs of the individuals, is also taking care of social interests, reducing the environmental impact. This is the concept of the "waterfall", the theory launched by the Dutch T. Sirkin in 1991 and elaborated by the same author together with m: ten Houten in the following years. What it is all about? Every product has a life cycle, at the end of which it is destroyed. There will be the need, then, of new raw materials, new chemical inputs, new energy to recreate it and destroy it again. With many costs for eliminating residuals and polluting problems. Using raw materials to make a high value product, using its residuals to make differentiated lower value products, and so on and so on like with a "waterfall", we obtain a longer life cycle product reducing the input lever per unit of product and therefore a reduction in polluting problems. Making the whole process rational and organised, together with a costs reduction we would obtain social benefits and new jobs. For hemp there has been studied a use by Fraanje (1997) both for the wooden part than for the canapulo. It would be possible to use, one after the other as in a sequence: the fiber part for textile uses; the residuals to produce good quality paper even mixed with recycled paper, this paper in turn can be changed into thicker papers and finally cardboards; these can be processed to obtain mixture materials to make insulating panels and at last, used as fuels. The product life cycle can become longer: from today's 2 years to more than 60. The canapulo can also be used in the shaving chips industry, reused at least 3 times, with a life cycle of 75 years.
The future of hemp, and for many other fibre cultivations, it is very promising. On the other hand, to change the cultivation models to reduce the surplus in agriculture is easier moving to an annual life cycle type of cultivation than from wooden cultivations with a whole decade of life cycle ahead. Until the early 1900, everything was extracted and processed with no chemicals at all. If it has been possible for Chinese to make paper in 70-80 B.C. and if E.Ford was able to produce an entirely vegetable fibre car (that came up to be stronger, lighter and more biodegradable than metal made cars) with just hemp oil as fuel (less polluting than mineral oils of at least 70%) it means that hemp can really represent, today, an almost magical plant for all of us, helping our environment and creating at the same time new type of jobs.

Angela Grimaldi
v. degli Etruschi 6, 56030 Terricciola (PI)
tel.fax 0587\635485 E-mail: cchr@rcnet.it