Obtaining high quality textile fibre from industrial hemp through organic cultivation
AbstractThe urgency to find alternative fabrics to conventionally produced cotton is increasing as vast amounts of agrochemicals are used and a lot of irrigation is required. In this literature survey the potential of organic cultivation practices to produce highly qualitative hemp fibre, suitable for the textile industry, was investigated. The definition of a fibre in the textile context as well as of the qualities that are essential for a textile fibre was necessary as a base for the discussion in this thesis. The quality parameters looked at were fineness, strength, length, friction, and colour. The impact of external growth factors and plant development on these quality properties are discussed. No industrial norms for hemp textile fibres are available. However, there are guidelines available, developed for growers and processors to obtain an even and easily processed fibre material, optimized for textile purposes. Although hemp with high quality fibre with showed to be easily cultivated by organic means to, discrepancies in optimal harvest time with respect to fibre quality, and legislated harvest time (being beyond this point in time) puts the grower in a technical dilemma regarding the fibre quality.