Kansas’ House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development has given approval to a bill that would allow the cultivation of industrial hemp in the state.
“Kansas farmers are having a very tough time,” said
Representative Willie Dove following the vote on House Bill 2182, known as the Kansas Industry Growth Act . “It’s very dry, and they need a crop that will utilize that dryness.” Dove notes hemp requires very little water to grow properly.
According to its official text, the purpose of the act is to authorize and encourage “research activities, business development and support activities, public-private cooperation and educational activities toward the growth of an industrial hemp cultivating, processing or distributing industry in Kansas.”