Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) has suggested it amongst novel crops that could flourish in the south of the country. Others include mushrooms and cut flowers.
SRUC suggests farmers in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway could also diversify away from the traditional land uses of beef, sheep, arable and forestry, into producing bark for tannin extraction, sugar beet or ancient cereals which have higher protein and fibre and less gluten than common alternatives.
The report, released today, is funded by the South of Scotland Economic Partnership (SOSEP) for the new South of Scotland Enterprise agency (SOSE).
And medicinal cannabis, now prescribed by the NHS for various conditions such as epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, and opium poppies, whose seedpods contain codeine and morphine among other substances, are both said to offer opportunities to expand pharmaceutical crop production in the UK.
Read more at thenational.scot