​Hemp is a plant that has a wide range of uses. In fact, “cannabis sativa” means “useful” (sativa) “hemp” (cannabis). With a relatively short growth cycle of 120 days and the ability to be planted densely at a rate of 3 to 5 hundred plants per square meter it has great potential to become a cash crop. The plant is very tall; ranging in height from 1.8 to 4.8 meters with majority of each plant being comprised of thin stalks, with no branches, and relatively few leaves. Use of hemp dates back many thousands of years and unlike many other crops, hemp can be grown in most locations and climates across the world.

Where hemp has been grown, it has become a valuable and environmentally friendly crop, due to this it is easy to see it has been widely underutilized. With the focus within the design community  towards green technology; there has been an emergence of bio-composites. Some make the statement that bio-composites work better than standard composites. Hemp posses a great fiber that should be utilized within bio-composites. The branches of hemp, with their hollow core, work exceptionally well at retaining resin thus creating a more solid material.

Focusing towards the innovative projects involving bio-composites we have discovered our thesis. How can we manipulate the fiber properties of hemp through branching? While many crops have been biologically manipulated over the years to increase yields,  hemp has stayed fairly old-fashioned in its growth. We aim to hack the plant through branching to increase yield of the hollow branches that work so well in bio-composites.