Criticism
European experts on hemp, like Dr. Hayo M.G. van der Werf author of the doctoral thesis Crop physiology of fibre hemp (1994) and Dr. Ivan Bûcsa, criticized Herer' for making unrealistic claims regarding the potential of hemp, for example:
- Herer claimed that hemp produces higher yields than other crops. Van der Werf argued that is simply wrong. Under most favorable growing conditions, other crops such as maize, sugar beet or potato produced similar dry matter yields. Fiber hemp is in no way exceptional. See also Hemp#Yield in modern agriculture
- Herer claimed that hemp hurds, which make up 60 to 80% of the stem dry weight, contain 77% cellulose. Van der Werf argued that is wrong. Cellulose content of hemp hurds has been found to vary between 32 and 38% (Bedetti and Ciaralli 1976, van der Werf 1994). Possibly, Herer confused the hurds, which form the woody core of the hemp stem, with the bark, which forms the outer layer of the hemp stem. The bark contains the long bast fibers which are used in textile manufacturing.
- Herer claimed that hemp could be grown on 6 million hectares in the European Union, something that should have produced millions of tons of hemp fiber. The present production of hemp fiber in EU is only around 0.023 million ton/year. Dr. Ivan Bûcsa argue that it was a great exaggeration to expect millions of tons since it is not worth transporting unprocessed hemp more than 40–50 km even in bales.
Read more about this topic: Jack Herer
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