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The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) announced that it will conduct hemp growing tests in Guápiles and Cañas.
As the institution told Amelia Rueda, the idea is to test the crops in two microclimates of the country.
“(Tests will be carried out) in two regions of the country, Guápiles and Cañas, which have different agroclimatic characteristics: the first is a region of the wet tropics, and the second is a dry tropic region, with little rain,” said MAG Deputy Minister Marlon Monge.
The government has assured that its work together has revealed great benefits in the value chain of cultivation of this plant with capabilities in fiber, food, and medicine.
“We are starting to bring the seedlings to carry out the agronomic studies necessary to identify the soils where hemp can be sown,” said Minister Renato Alvarado.
The National Institute of Innovation and Transfer in Agricultural Technology (INTA) will be the institution responsible for carrying out the tests to this crop. From this, the seeds that best suit the needs of the country will be chosen.
Deputy Minister Monge said they will be “mother seedlings with THC less than 1%”.
Large export capacity
Data from the Promoter of Foreign Trade (PROCOMER) performed identify the capacity of hemp as an export product.
According to the data released in a report, the largest importers are Germany, the Czech Republic and Spain. The largest exporter in the world is the Netherlands with around eight thousand tons of hemp per year.
“This is a great opportunity to generate jobs and economic revival for the country as the industrialization of the plant can bring even great export opportunities as the material is in high demand worldwide.”
Legislative Assembly
In addition to the hemp development plan presented by the executive, the Legislative Assembly discusses a bill to legalize the production of both industrial hemp and medical cannabis.
This is the plan presented by MEP Zoila Rosa Volio who has assured that “the government should legalize medicinal cannabis as well”.
Despite the criticisms that his project has received from some of the social sectors, Volio has just presented a new substitute text that includes different types of homemade medicinal cultivation. The text was developed in conjunction with deputy Jose María Villalta.
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