Researching Markets for Agricultural By-Products
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
Yesterday we reported on how research at Purdue University is looking at ways to use hemp fiber for commercial applications. And one of those applications would take things full circle back to the farm. Purdue University professor and food science department head Senay Simsek says hemp fiber can be used to help with water retention in agronomic applications instead of petroleum products.
Simsek… “One major application of super absorbent materials is water retentors in agronomy applications. In certain parts of the United States, drought is a major problem. So when it rains some of the soil that can retain the water on the surface, that's what plants need. But in certain part of the soils, the water just moves down and it's not available for plant growth. So in (those) cases, in certain parts of the US farmers are using water retentors to maintain the water on the surface so it could be more available for plant growth. And one of the things we want to do is can we also use hemp-based super absorbers as water retentors for agricultural applications?”
She hopes this research will help open markets for agricultural byproducts like hemp fiber.
