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Comment by bitxbitxbitcoin | Hacker News Reader

Presumably, the way they'd be growing, seeds aren't a desirable byproduct. The yield per acre for hemp seeds is around 700 pounds.[0] In comparison, rice can yield an order of magnitude more at 7471 pounds.[1]

Note that these numbers aren't for Malawi's climate but the difference is definitely still going to be there.

[0] https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/fiber/industrial-... [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/190479/rice-yield-per-ha...

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I'm unsure of the long term potential of hemp seeds. I don't think the genetics have been optimized for growing seeds yet. Most people breed for CBD, THC, and specific terpene profiles. The higher volume, lower margin goods like seed and fiber have been relatively unexplored by the market.

Good point - I can only imagine that there is a lot of optimization possible for seeds if cannabis becomes used as a food source.

I'd argue that the genetics of cannabis/hemp for use as fiber have been relatively more explored than seeds by selective breeding of Cannabis Sativa during the milleniums in some cultures when hemp fiber was the fiber of choice.[0]

[0] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/201...

I believe fiber and seeds were the original uses of the plant. Psychoactive properties weren't discovered until much later.

As for genetics, the tools we have now are so much better for breeding than even 25 years ago. For example, cannabis in the 90s was ~5% THC. Now it's easy to find strains over 30%. Similarly, CBD flower and CBG flower didn't exist even 5 years ago and now we have 20% CBD flower strains.

I'm sure people are working on genetics similarly for seed production and fiber but the money isn't there yet. Entire supply chains have to be built to support the industry. It's not just the farmers and genetics. There's processing equipment on multiple levels required as well as consumer markets that have to be established.

What tools are you talking about? I thought that was due to many iterations of selection for specific traits.

Certain types of large manufacturing equipment must be built in a crop-specific way or at least benefit significantly by being designed for a particular crop.

For example, all cannabis flower (non-extracted) is harvested by hand and then trimmed by hand. Recently machines were made to trim large amounts of cannabis efficiently with high quality. It used to take one person at least an hour to trim a pound of weed. Now a machine can do 10lbs a minute.

Throughout the supply-chain, there are machines that must be built to support the physical scale. This isn't unique to cannabis, vaping had the same problem. The cartridges used to all be filled by hand until someone invested in the machinery. That what causes standards and grades to be created. None of that really exists in cannabis/hemp right now.

>Psychoactive properties weren't discovered until much later.

It's known for atleast 5000years.

IIRC rice isn't very nutritious, it's just calorie dense. In that regard adding hemp seeds to your diet may do more in the long run.

These are mostly myths, at best they are ignored, at worst, they perpetuate the assumption half the population in Asia would be nourishing themselves badly (since many thousands of years - seems a bit far-fetched, no?).

https://doctor.ndtv.com/living-healthy/8-myths-about-rice-yo...

Myth or not, ask people which have birds like Budgerigars, or watch it for your self. When you give them mixed food, they always go for the hemp seeds first, even by picking through maybe an ounce of corns/seeds until they get to the few hemp ones. Why is that?

Addict might go for heroine?

Kid might go for Sugary drink or cereals or snack over something like broccoli

What does it prove?

People in south Asia atleast don't consume Rice alone, rice has handful of amino acids when it's coupled with lentils (of different kinds) which have other complementary amino acid profile it becomes a complete protein like any other protein from whey

This is often smth which Indian people say, "bro our diet lacks protein". Yea what you consume everyday as "Dal bhaat rotti" if if it's protein then what it is?

Addict might go for heroine? wasn't what i meant to imply, nor does it fit the profile of the hemp seeds in birdseed since they come from the sort hemp which doesn't make you high.

More something like it's healthy and they know it. By whatever means...

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