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The post North Indian startup aims to help beleaguered farmers’ appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

When five friends at Panjab University in the Indian city of Chandigarh became aware of an alarming suicide rate among the nation’s farmers, they decided to do something about it.

“All five of us belong to a farming background, and knowing that farming in India has played an important role in our development and identity as a nation, we realized that something needed to done for the backbone of the country,” remembers William Pal Singh.

Their answer was to form Esperanza Global Eco Solutions, a startup that’s exploring the agricultural, industrial and commercial potential of hemp as a multipurpose crop in India, with the ultimate goal to lift the fortunes of struggling Indian farmers.

Farmers on the edge

Nearly 70% of India’s 90 million agricultural households spend more than what they earn on average, pushing them towards debt, which is the primary reason for more than half of all suicides by farmers nationwide, statistics show.

The post Searching for high-CBD hemp seeds? Don’t look to Europe appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

Desperate to find certified high-CBD hemp planting seed? Don’t look to Europe. The uninitiated don’t seem to know this secret: There are no high CBD strains registered in the EU plant variety database, and European breeders have virtually no incentive to develop such strains as long as the continent is restricted by the EU benchmark 0.2% THC content rule.

European hemp varieties are developed and registered for seeds yield and/or fiber content — to serve sectors that have been the historical focus of European hemp producers since the revival of the industry in the mid 1990s.

Low THC means low CBD

It was only in the last few years, with the rapid rise of the global CBD market, that Europeans started to harvest the compound from their certified crops. But because CBD content is directly proportional to THC in a plant, Europe’s highly restrictive 0.2 THC limit means European plants have relatively low CBD in their makeup.

Furthermore, Europe’s focus on seeds and fiber means breeders on the continent have not set out to raise and stabilize CBD content in their cultivars. There are some high-CBD seeds produced by marijuana seed banks. But these are sold mostly as collector’s items, and the strains have not passed any approval process by a third party, so there are no guarantees as to quantity or overall quality with respect to CBD yield.

The post Despite struggles with the law, Greek hemp advocate is upbeat appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

By Brian Houlihan | HempToday – The Greek hemp industry continues to grow since it began five years ago. However, in the past year, there has been a crackdown on hemp farmers, producers, and consumers, Michalis Theodoropoulos, the President of Kannabio Hemp Cooperative told HempToday.

“The police during the past year have arrested producers, retailers, and customers of hemp products, the result of the incomplete and ambiguous legislation and due to misinterpretations of the law,” Theodoropoulos said.

One of the most profound cases involved Kannabio founding member, Serafeim Kandylas, who was arrested last June and charged with the possession of illegal substances. Kandylas was charged for being in possession of Kannabio’s packaged dried hemp flowers, hemp flour, hemp pasta, and hemp soap.

Bust is a bust

Similarly, Greek police in July announced they had destroyed 10,500 cannabis seedlings and detained the grower. The police statement said it was “the biggest cannabis plantation ever found in the country.” However, their joy was short-lived when it turned out the 3.5-hectare farm was actually a legal hemp cultivation.

The post New Zealand stakeholders are forming hemp interest group appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

A recent food conference in New Zealand has earmarked hemp as having the potential to impact the food industry and to boost the economy. While the laws around hemp foods are only now opening up, following the example of Australia, its hoped this will lead to an explosion of new companies and products.

More than 170 delegates from the New Zealand food industry met and discussed the global future of food and the opportunities for the country, and more specifically the Hawke’s Bay region where the conference took place. Delegates decided to form a hemp special interest group to explore customer oriented opportunities in the fibre, medicine and food categories.

James Cameron growing hemp?

Hemp has only recently returned to New Zealand with the rules being relaxed in 2001. However, restrictions on the industry have limited its capacity to grow. Nonetheless, there has been growing interest in the crop and even well-known figures are taking part in the hemp revolution. Film director James Cameron is among those growing and researching the crop in recent years through his company T base 2.

Previously, hemp producers could sell hemp oil but not the by-products like hemp seed meal. Earlier this year Andrew Davidson of Midlands Nutritional Oils told local media “We are going from being able to sell 25 percent of the raw material for human consumption to 100 percent, so that is a big change.”

The post ‘Fast, radical, different’: Hemp and the next industrial revolution appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

INTERVIEW: Phil Warner is CEO and Chairman of Ecolife Science, which works to advance new-era products for a sustainable future. He has more than 20 years hemp industry experience in China, Bhutan, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Africa and North & South America. Warner set up the world’s biggest most diverse cannabis gene seed bank. His former company, Ecofibre is an internationally recognized enterprise in hemp production and market development which invested more than $15 million into research and development of new high-yield commercial plant varieties, agriculture and processing.

HempToday: What’s your take on the whole question of using hemp bio-mass to create fuel? Is that a viable long-term winner?
Phil Warner: I think there are far better, more economically viable uses of hemp biomass than for fuel. Globally we are in desperate need of recyclable bio-materials that can be grown and supplied domestically for day-to-day consumer products. The issue really is that we haven’t developed technologies and systems to convert bio-materials that can do this better than hydrocarbons yet. This “system” is what I intend on researching. A device that can deconstruct bio-materials and reconstruct them in the forms we desire, then recycle them again and again.

What I imagine is the use of the science of “Chemurgy” using high tech equipment, sort of like a 3D printer but instead of hydrocarbon based materials, the raw materials are bio-based and recyclable, several times over. It is not going to be easy to achieve this but it is inevitable that something like this has to be done otherwise climate change will change our lives well beyond what is already anticipated. However, if we are able to recycle domestically, even locally, we will see a reduction of over 50% of the need for materials we presently dump in landfills.

The post Western Australia grants provide spark to hemp stakeholders appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

The government of Western Australia is providing $200,000 (US$145,000) in grants to support the state’s hemp industry.

“There are immense opportunities in hemp and it is early days in the industry – the time in which government can give a little assistance to help the industry take off,” Agriculture and food minister Alannah MacTiernan told local media.

Boosting the value chain

“The feedback we are getting from growers, processors, manufacturers, and businesses is that they need support to establish processing facilities, develop markets and to identify varieties suitable for WA conditions” – issues the grants are designed to address.

Currently, most of the region’s hemp farmers who can expect to benefit from the scheme are based in Jindong, Margaret River and Manjimup.

The post More happening in Chinese hemp than meets the eye appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

The opening of the Chinese hemp market will no doubt be significant for the industry globally. While little is known about the world’s biggest hemp producer, glimpses of what’s being done are tantalizing.

Take SkyGreen, an offshoot of NASDAQ-listed Sky Solar Group, a solar panel maker that builds photovoltaic power stations internationally.

SkyGreen has rapidly moved into industrial hemp, with activities in farming, processing and extraction of CBD, and with an aggressive R&D program that is exploring applications for hemp from low tech to high. The company now has a huge fiber hemp planting base and processing workshop in Hei Longjiang Province, China’s hemp capital.

Shrouded in mystery

But much about the Chinese hemp industry is shrouded in mystery. This enigma has as much to do with communication problems as it does anything else, according to Japanese consultant Riki Hiroi, who recently attended the 60th convention of China’s Institute of Bast Fiber Crops at the invitation of Chinese officials.

The post Belarus hemp stakeholders push back against strict enforcement appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

By Brian Houlihan | HempToday – Belarus has some of the most restrictive cannabis and hemp laws in Europe. Yet despite the fears of reprisals, activists in the country are continuing their push for legal reforms.

”Cultivation, possession, purchasing, selling or transporting (hemp) is a criminal offense,” Piotr Markiełaŭ of Legalize Belarus told HempToday. “There is no distinction in the law between hemp and heroin, possession of either can cost you up to 5 years in prison. If a hemp plant accidentally grows up on your land you can face a fine.”

History of hemp in Belarus

Markiełaŭ said hemp was once widely used in Belarus and the wider region. “Hemp thread, fabric, flour, oil, paper, and other products were produced,” he notes. However, Markiełaŭ laments the current situation as “No hemp products are made in Belarus and everything we have available to buy is imported from abroad.”

Markiełaŭ recounts how in the 1950’s farmers in Belarus were encouraged to grow hemp in reclaimed bog-land. Posters were produced by the Soviets with a slogan which roughly translates to ‘Expand hemp crops on peat bogs!’.

The post NGO calls WHO committee’s report ‘unethical, surrealistic’ appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

International cannabis activists have expressed concern over a guidance document from the World Health Organization (WHO) that will be under review during the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting Dec. 5-7 in Vienna. WHO representatives are to give the definitive outcomes and recommendations for the re-scheduling of cannabis, and guidelines for cannabidiol (CBD) to the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) during the meeting.

The concerns emerged this week in Geneva during a meeting of WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD), which contributed the guidance, essentially a scientific review that covers of cannabis, resin, extracts, THC, and CBD extracts.

‘Unethical, surrealistic’

“The disappointment relates to the important, repeated, unethical – and I tend to say surrealistic – bias in the (ECDD) documentation,” Kenzi Riboulet Zemouli of FAAAT wrote in a four page letter to the Expert Committee, citing passages in the WHO documentation that address pharmacology and epidemiology, which FAAT says are key to the overall review.

FAAT specifically criticized pharmacology sections in the guidance which it says contain “dozens of methodological fallacies and terminological bias. “Misinterpreted studies outcomes and even some presentation of false conclusions seem to imply an intention to introduce bias,” the letter charged.

The post Uttar Pradesh is second Indian state to allow hemp cultivation appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

In Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India, the government recently announced it will issue permits to allow the cultivation of hemp in the region. The announcement follows the recent reforms elsewhere in the country which are already leading to serious investments.

A government spokesperson, Srikant Sharma, told Indian media the introduction of hemp growing could help improve farmers income. According to the decision, farmers will be allowed cultivate hemp under the supervision of the Excise Department. The UP government has committed to doubling the income of farmers by 2022 and hemp is part of the plan to achieve this.

Things moving in Uttarakhand

The move follows the lead of Uttarakhand, which last year became the first state in India to allow farmers to grow hemp. Uttarakhand, which is also located in northern India, borders Nepal and China and officials in the region believe hemp has the potential to revive Indian agriculture and create numerous jobs.

Now the Uttarakhand region now set for serious investment in the hemp industry which could significantly impact the state. The Indian Industrial Hemp Association (IIHA) recently announced an investment of Rs 1,100 crores (about $150 million) for expanding hemp cultivation, research, and other initiatives to grow the industry in Uttarakhand.

Massachusetts-based MariMed, a multi-state cannabis operator, is entering the hemp-derived CBD business with a $30 million investment in a Kentucky company. The company, GenCanna, has contract farmers to grow hemp to its specifications as well processing facilities to turn the plant into CBD extracts, concentrates, isolates and other products. GenCanna plans to use the money […]

Marijuana firm MariMed invests $30M in hemp-derived CBD producer is a post from: Marijuana Business Daily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs

The post Belize officials back hemp but clear regulations still needed appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

After recent calls by opposition leader John Briceño to legalize cannabis in Belize were rejected, Prime Minister Dean Barrow suggested the country should look towards hemp production instead. The call for cannabis reform follows the decriminalization of cannabis possession for 10 grams or less in April 2017.

While hemp is legal in the Central American nation, there are currently no regulations in place. Speaking to local media, Prime Minister Barrow declared “We are well on the way to creating just such an industry with the Ministry of Agriculture meeting with, and preparing farmers and the Attorney General drafting the necessary legislation, using Canadian and Australian models.”

Support at official level

After Briceño’s call for reform, it emerged that the Belize Health Minister Pablo Marin had expressed his support for cannabis and hemp reforms back in February 2016. A letter he wrote in support of a project mooted by local businessmen to produce cannabis for medical purposes was highlighted in the media.

Another letter from October 2017 reveals the Health Ministers’ support for the development of hemp production in the Stann Creek District of Belize. Marin outlines the four conditions needed for his support: That the product is exported to a company with relevant state licenses; that the processing plant and the culture of the hemp plant be in accordance with local laws; that the land is fenced; and that the company involved complies with the laws of Belize.

The post Hanffasser Uckermark is honored with prize from Raab Foundation appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

German hemp cooperative Hanffaser Uckermark eG has been named recipient of a €50,000 award from the Hans Raab Environmental Award Foundation.

The bi-annual prize honors firms which demonstrate environmentally conscious practices in their businesses. It is handed out as an incentive for future work, with the aim of protecting the environment and human health in a sustainable way, according to Foundation guidelines. The Raab prize also promotes and supports the recycling of environmentally friendly products in the global market.

Founded in 1997 as one of the first German hemp companies of modern times, Hanffaser Uckermark e.G. runs a decortication line for the processing of hemp-straw, emphasizing high environmental standards.

The post Self-regulatory authority in USA starts hemp certification program appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook, instagram and twitter.

The US Hemp Roundtable has launched training and self-regulatory programs through which growers and processors can get a “certified” seal for use in their advertising, marketing and product labeling.

Qualification is through compliance with the newly established U.S. Hemp Authority Guidance Program, and verified by a third-party audit. The group said the “certified” seal is aimed at giving consumers confidence that products they purchase are safe and of the highest possible quality, while giving law enforcement assurance that the products are legal hemp.

Comprehensive guidance

The Hemp Industries Association and the American Herbal Products Association worked with leading firms, labs and quality-control experts to develop the comprehensive guidance program.

“With growth only set to increase, the time is now for the hemp industry to establish and embrace standards, best practices and self-regulation,” the group said in a release.

The post Farmers on Jersey see hemp as solution to soil problems, and more appeared first on HempToday. Subscribe to our newsletter, check out our events and follow us on facebook,

HempToday and Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures (SHIV) will launch HempToday India under a licensing arrangement, the companies have announced.

Nepal-based SHIV is a leading voice for industrial hemp in Asia. The company is active in hemp construction, health & beauty products, textiles and accessories, and offers a boutique of consulting services.

Aim to educate and unite

“The mission of our Indian edition of HempToday is to help unite the industry by sharing knowledge and knowhow, and working for transparency in the marketplace,” said Nivedita Bansal Shah, an Indian native and co-founder at SHIV. “We need better communication in the industry, especially to support small enterprises and startups.”

The first edition of HempToday India will be delivered by email Thursday, Nov. 8. While content will primarily be focused on Indian hemp, the Shahs say HT-India’s editorial team will also look into other nations on the subcontinent that have developing hemp industries, and import/export potential relevant to India.

Second national edition for HT

The Indian edition is HempToday is second national mutation after the launch of HempToday Japan, in the Japanese language, last April. “We’re obviously interested in Asia,” said Kehrt Reyher, HempToday Editor & Publisher. “India is reawakening to hemp, that’s clear. But there are a lot of things needed to develop strong hemp value chains. That all begins with reliable information and networking,” Reyher said.

By Brian Houlihan | HempToday – After medical cannabis reforms in Portugal were announced, fears over the future of the hemp industry have emerged. There are now serious concerns that farmers will not be allowed to sow crops in 2019. Humberto Nogueira, a hemp advocate and consultant in Portugal told HempToday.

In July of this year it was announced that medical cannabis would be made available in limited circumstances. This move has the potential to impact the hemp industry negatively, according to Nogueira. “That is because hemp cannabidiol seems to act as a disruptive element in terms of laws,” Nogueira said, adding that new laws “are made by government departments that don’t know enough about cannabis yet.”

Potential conflict

According to Nogueira, because medical companies can now grow THC- and CBD-rich cannabis varieties, this means there’s a potential conflict with hemp derived CBD. As the DGAV (the government department that controls hemp cultivation procedures in Portugal) is currently reviewing the matter with other governmental departments, it means the 2019 growing season is in limbo.

“Until further notice, this situation doesn’t allow winter cultivars and trials for current and new hemp farmers, plus the fact that without official procedures farmers and investors can’t plan accurately for the 2019 season,” said Nogueira of what he describes as confusion and misinformation at a government level.

Nogueria also said there are rumors of future hemp regulations which would allow growing for fiber only, forcing farmers to “watch their flowers to rot in the field.” That would put Portugal at a serious disadvantage in relation to other EU countries; lower profits for farmers would make growing the crop less attractive, Nogueira said.

Cannabis, activists, scientists, practitioners and other stakeholders will make presentations at the International Cannabis Policy Conference Dec. 7-9 in Vienna. Some 20 speakers representing 11 countries will talk about subjects ranging from sustainable building with industrial hemp to public policy, law, human rights, access to cannabis, licensing, drug policy and food safety during the conference.

The event overlaps with a UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting Dec. 5-7, also in Vienna, during which WHO representatives will give the definitive outcomes and recommendations for the re-scheduling of cannabis, and guidelines for cannabidiol (CBD) to the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). CND is the only United Nations body dealing with cannabis policy.

Recommendations coming out of the Policy Conference will supplement WHO re-scheduling guidelines by emphasizing the potential for the development of cannabis and industrial hemp markets as well as products and innovations that meet the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), a global framework for eco-responsible societies.

The Policy Conference is organized by FAAAT, an international lobbying organization.

See the full list of speakers.

Recent government announcements to consider reforming cannabis laws has led to an increased interest in growing hemp on the Bahamian islands and government officials appear warm to the idea. Michael Pintard, the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources for the Bahamas said recently that he has received a number of proposals relating to hemp production.

In July 2018 the government announced it was considering plans to decriminalize the personal use of cannabis and to allow the medicinal use of the plant. The plans are based on a report issued by the CARICOM Regional Commission on Marijuana. The commission presented its findings and recommendations into the social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding cannabis use in the Caribbean. The report also encouraged the development of the hemp industry in the region.

Three serious contenders

In August, Pintard first revealed that the government was receiving submissions to grow hemp but stated it wasn’t in a position to approve any request. He said late last month the government is continuing to receive submissions and that it had at least three he considers serious proposals.

However, the acceptance of these proposals is subject to wider cannabis reforms being enacted in the Bahamas. But the government appears to be preparing for hemp production becoming a reality and hopes to assist farmers when the time arrives.

CBD designated as legal

While the government is still mulling plans to reform its cannabis and hemp laws, it recently clarified that CBD products are legal. Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands was asked about the legality of CBD by a media outlet after its reporters noticed a pharmacy was selling hair products containing CBD. Sands said the products were not illegal once an import license for the product had been secured.

By Brian Houlihan | HempToday – A group of cannabis investors who recently visited Malawi is lobbying the government to embrace hemp. South Africa-based Canadian cannabis investor Graham Macintosh is among those encouraging politicians to allow investors to grow and buy hemp from the country.

Macintosh, of Green Quest Farmaceuticals, told local media that his company is seeking 50,000 hectares to grow hemp in South Africa. He believes Malawi can easily switch from tobacco to hemp growing. Tobacco was once a cash crop in Malawi but profits have declined in recent years and many farmers are seeking alternatives.

‘Explore the crop’s potential’

In September 2015 the British High Commissioner to Malawi Michael Nevin also suggested the country look to hemp as an alternative to the declining tobacco industry. “I hope outlining the UK experience helps the debate to move on to how Malawi could also explore the crop’s potential,” Nevin said. “The industrial and marijuana varieties are different, with only one offering a legitimate market for Malawi to exploit.”

One media estimate suggests that one kilogram of industrial hemp fetches about K32,000 ($44) on the market and that there is a potential direct annual benefit to Malawians in excess of K3 billion (around $1.4 million) on 16.5 hectares.

Not laughing now

In May 2015, Boniface Kadzamira proposed the idea of legalising industrial hemp in Malawian parliament. While laughed at during his initial suggestion, by June 2016 the government was accepting his calls to legalize hemp in the country.**** Speaking recently in support of Macintosh’s calls for regulation, Kadzamira said the government should quickly draw up guidelines to attract more hemp investors.