CrossRoads - Robohemp2025

HOW ROBOTS CAN BOOST HEMP CULTIVATION

Climate change is making growing hemp increasingly interesting. Hemp grows quickly, needs little water, requires no spraying and improves soil structure. Moreover, it has a much higher CO2 absorption capacity than a forest. To give hemp cultivation every chance, Flemish SME Hyler and Dutch SME AgXeed want to jointly develop a self-propelled hemp harvester.

The importance of precision

Due to hemp’s interesting properties, demand for hemp products – such as oil, fodder, textiles and building materials – is increasing. But there are also challenges associated with hemp cultivation. Indeed, harvesting this fibre requires a specific technique and the number of trained drivers of hemp harvesters is not abundant.

The uprooted hemp must be cut perfectly into two parts and laid down nicely parallel behind the machine. This parallelisation is best done in the most automatic way possible, taking into account the length of the hemp and the necessary space for the machines that carry out follow-up operations such as collecting it into bales.