‘Cannabis seeds can help government fight malnutrition in children’
VIJAYAWADA: An MBA graduate from Anantapur says cannabis seeds are the best solution to stunted growth among millions of children in the country. NemHempCo, based in Bangalore and founded by Harsha Vardhan Reddy, which manufactures various products from hemp, has sent a proposal to Lakshmi Narasimham, Excise Commissioner, seeking permission to manufacture nutritious food from seeds of the plants for children suffering from malnutrition.
“Cannabis seeds have many health advantages. We plan to crush hemp seed into powder; 100 gram of powder has gram protein, 33-35 gram fibre, 21-gram amino acids among which nine are essential for healthy growth of children. It also contains good doses of sodium, iron, potassium, sodium and phosphorous, etc. It is feasible for the government to manufacture the food on a mass scale and distributed it among children suffering from malnutrition,” said Harsh Vardhan.
He claimed he had sent the proposal to the State Excise Commissioner on July 26, who in turn sent it to the CM’s office, where it is awaiting approval. NemHempCO has plans to take the proposal to the Centre as well for implementation across the country.
Anther proposal made in his letter to the government seeks to use hemp-based product in manufacturing automobiles. “We are conducting research on it and we found that cars made of hemp are five times sturdier than those made of steel. These are basically low-priced cars that can provide bullet-proof security,” Vardhan explained.
However, the proposal is still at the research stage and will take five to six years to achieve this, he said. “Research is also ongoing on hemp-based bio-fuel, which can be used only in factories. This fuel can reduce pollution by 30 per cent. This needs tonnes of hemp waste.”
Where does the company intend to get so much? The answer for that lies in the already much publicised project proposal made by NemHempCo to the government. A month ago, media reports emerged about environmental-friendly bricks made of hemp. “After manufacturing these bricks, tonnes of hemp waste would be generated for us to further use it to make bio-fuel,” Vardhan elaborated.
“It is the nature of hemp to absorb co2. We have requested the government to use these bricks for construction of Amaravati so that it can become world’s landmark green city,” said Vardhan. If the government approves this project, NemHempCo is going to engage 1000 farmers in Anantapur to work on a pilot project in Kalluru village, he said.
To prove the efficacy of the project, the company is going to build an office using bricks made of hemp in Bangalore’s HSR Layout.