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Cultivation
In India, the tender leaves of the plant are used in the making of curries, but the plant is cultivated mainly as a fiber crop in drier regions. Moisture is required during the growing period, so rainfall should be at least 100 mm or more per month during the crop cycle with a fairly uniform temperature in order to properly cultivate the plant.

The plant is hermaphroditic, producing large cream coloured flowers characterized by a reddish purple or scarlet throat. The flowers are short lived, opening in the early hours of morning before sunrise and closing by noon of the same day. While cannabinus is generally self-pollinated, bees and other insects cause a small amount of cross-pollination. In India the plant is cultivated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharastra, Karnataka, and Orissa.

So far Ambadi has been cultivated only as a fibre crop, but it has been found that the fibre quality will not be impaired even if seed is allowed to set. The fibre still can be used for pulp and other industries, while the seed yield will be 350-450 kg per hectare, and contain up to 18-22% protein. The annual potential for Ambadi in India is around 75,000 tonnes of seeds and around 13,000 tonnes of oil.

Extraction of Oil
Ambadi seeds are greyish or dull green in appearance and H. sabdiriffa plant seeds are brown or pink. Ambadi seeds are tetrahedral and contain 18-22% of oil. The seed has good storage stability but having a strongly adherent seed coat makes it difficult to separate from the kernel. The yield of oil from seeds is about 15%. To extract the oil, the seed is flaked, steamed and pressed. Residual oil in the cake can be extracted with hexane; alternatively all the oil can be extracted directly with the solvent.

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