(The photo shows hemp undergoing retting in a vast field.)
Cutting-edge technology (farms and factories) in Northeast China
In Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, winter temperatures can drop to minus 15 degrees. We visited a hemp farm in the suburbs along with a state-of-the-art spinning factory. The sheer scale of the farm was astonishing.
At the farm, the hemp plants were undergoing post-harvest retting—an essential step in which plants are left in the fields for about a month, exposed to rain and dew, to encourage fiber separation. Bundles of stalks could be seen scattered across the land.
When we visited, the retting had just finished, and it was the first day that raw material was being transported to the next stage: decortication. This work was scheduled to begin the following day. Large tractors loaded with stalks lined the roads. In fact, decortication was the very process we were most eager to see (to be discussed in detail in the technical section).
This region has long produced both flax (the raw material for linen) and Cannabis sativa (the raw material for hemp). Since the 2010s, however, large-scale investment has been directed toward hemp agriculture to nurture future industries. Five years ago, a modern spinning mill began full-scale production of high-quality hemp yarn.
During that time, selective breeding of Cannabis sativa advanced to the third generation, with THC content now below 0.3%. This ensures production of fully compliant industrial hemp.
(The Agricultural Seed Research Institute in Qinggang, where new crop varieties are being developed.)
With THC levels now virtually undetectable, attention has shifted to monitoring pesticide residues. Their aim is to supply hemp that qualifies as fully organic.
The factory is equipped with the latest machinery, with strict quality control beginning from the raw materials. Before spinning, the fibers are sorted into grades by quality and color.
(This is where some of the world’s finest hemp yarn is being spun.)
As professionals in hemp textiles, we already had a good idea of what to expect inside the spinning factory. What we had not anticipated was the scale and complexity of the agricultural pre-processing—the steps that transform stalks into workable fiber before spinning.
This is the very core of hemp’s modern revival. It is the decisive process that sets today’s hemp yarn apart from older, cotton-system spun varieties. When this part of the process was finally revealed to us, it was a real eye-opener.
(See the second part here.)
