Industrial hemp growth.

Diversification of activities and income sources in rural areas

Rural topic(s): Rural entrepreneurship and diversification of activities

Date of writing: December 5, 2017

Author(s) of this page: SM

Summary:

National Forestry and Related Sectors Cluster has been working on forest protection, especially forest fire protection. Now there is additional focus on rural development where industrial hemp production can contribute to diversification of activities and income sources.

Text:

Description of activities

Background

There is an increasing market need for industrial hemp production related to the growing need for renewable energy, isolation material, chemical absorbents, fibre, cosmetic etc. However there are some problems related to the confusion of different species: industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) and the psychoactive sort (Cannabis Indica).

Activities

Creation of scientific and educational materials, information centre (legal issues, way of cultivation), experimental planting, networking between producers and processors.

Outlook

Challenges:

Creation of supportive regulatory framework
Removing prejudices and stigma related to industrial hemp carried over from misuse of Marihuana (Cannabis Indica).

Next steps:

Intensification of advocacy activities and creation of a network of organizations promoting production of industrial hemp.
Increasing the area of hemp cultivation and processing capacities.

****

In his interview, Nikola Jovanovitch explains the main advantages of industrial hemp and its different kind of uses.

Notes:

Information gathered at: the ERSG 2017 (European Rural Sustainability Gathering), Greece, Karditsa, 17-21 May 2017

Contact:

Contact: Nikola Jovanovic, Sinisa Jovanovic

E-mail: dzonisakv(a)gmail.com; stratmen.sinisa(a)gmail.com

Website: www.nksumarstva.com

Download:

fs_moi_ersg_2017_srb_nikola_sinisa2.pdf

Informations:

Scale of intervention : National

Keywords: diversification of economic activities, woodland management, alternative crops, hemp

Places: Serbia

Actors: producer, NGO

Methods: networking, information diffusion