By Muhammad Soban ISLAMABAD, Dec 29 (INP-WealthPK): Pakistan’s experiment of cultivating legal hemp crops remained successful, and the crop is now ready for harvesting. Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Senator Shibli Faraz, formally inaugurated the harvesting of hemp crop at a ceremony on the farm of Arid Agriculture University in Rawat, Rawalpindi city of Punjab province, on Thursday. The crop was cultivated in August this year. Initially, on a trial basis, four varieties were cultivated. While addressing the ceremony, Shibli Faraz said that the experiment of cultivating legal hemp in Pakistan remained successful. He shared that hemp was used not only in medicine, but also in the textile and paper industries. In the medical industry, he said, oil extracted from hemp is widely used to treat cancer, body pain and other illnesses. Shibli Faraz stated that Pakistan could not only use hemp oil domestically, but also earn handsome foreign reserves by selling it in the international market as the market price is Rs10,000 per litre. The minister said the Government of Pakistan is working on the formulation of a National Hemp Policy to legalise hemp in Pakistan. He said the government is trying to promote a culture for import substitution, self-reliance, and the possibility of exporting the crops that can be cultivated in Pakistan.