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ABSTRACT
Right after World War II, only dioecious cultivars of hemp were grown in Poland. Since 1956 the work has begun at the Institute of Natural Fibers (INF) to obtain monoecious cultivars. The first Polish monoecious cultivar of hemp—Bialobrzeskie—was registered in 1968. Further breeding work focused on straw yield and fiber content increase and reduction of Δ9THC content. The further work resulted in 1985 in registration of cultivar Beniko, which was developed at the INF Research Station in Wojciechow. Beniko has higher (by about 2%) fiber content than that of Bialobrzeskie cultivar and high yields while the trace tetrahydrocannabinol content (Δ9THC< 0.2%) poses no narcotic threat. Beniko is also characterized by high degree of monoeciousness and yielding stability in respect of straw and seed. High economic value of this cultivar resulted in cultivar enrollment in Polish National List of Varieties of Agricultural and Vegetable Plants in Poland as well as in Commonwealth Catalogue of Cultivar Plants (CCA). Breeding work that lasted more than twenty years resulted in development of maintenance breeding method for hemp. This method allows both maintaining basic economics of the cultivar and systematic improvement of these features. This method allowed for obtaining the cultivar Beniko, which is competitive to the best European cultivars. Additionally, the breeding research is carried out at the INF to obtain new cultivars suitable for different uses of industrial hemp.