The project aims to test hemp as a means of regenerating Landes soils infested with nutgrass, et eventually contaminated with cadmium; two threats that pose both economic and public health risks due to yield losses, management costs, land depreciation, and if applicable, increasing exposure of populations to cadmium through food.

As a low-input crop (no pesticides, low water and nitrogen requirements), hemp could serve a dual purpose. It could contribute to reducing the pressure of the nutgrass by modifying soil cover, root structure, and technical itineraries, while decontaminating soil if necessary.

The project involves three partner farmers (one from Camb’Adour and two from Chanvre des Landes), each with a 1-hectare plot. A common protocol has been established over two years, involving a hemp itinerary, monitoring of the occupation rate of the nutgrass on the identified plots and regular analyses of cadmium levels if this metal is detected at T0 soil analyses.