The cultivation of industrial hemp or non-psychoactive cannabis, which has less than 1% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is in its third export harvest and the government will invest in researching their agronomic conditions.
The General Directorate of Rural Development (DGDR) of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) signed an agreement with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) to study what factors determine the differences in yield and quality of harvested flowers.
Switzerland processes Uruguayan flowers
There are 65 companies installed mainly in San José, Canelones, Maldonado and Salto that develop this crop, with licenses granted by the MGAP.
The crops are sold to Switzerland, where they are processed or sold to the rest of Europe, he explained to The Observer the director of Rural Development, Carlos Rydström. Once harvested, the flowers undergo special drying, are packed in bags and shipped by plane.
According to 2021 data shared by the director, exports were made with values between US$30 and US$400 per kilo. The price has this range of variation because the flowers are valued depending on their organoleptic characteristics (aroma, color and flavor, for example).
In the local market these flowers are not sold. The cannabis sold, which passes through controls of the Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (Ircca), is the one that has more than 1% THC.
Areas and investor profile
In Uruguay, most of the hemp crops are close to Montevideo, “in many cases due to the profile of the investor”, he commented. The places chosen for planting “have to do with areas where horticulture thrives, because the type of crop and producer tend to resemble horticulture,” he added, which is why they stand out in the southern zone and in the surroundings of Paysandú. and Jump.
The distance between the place of harvest and drying also conditions “where it can be produced and where it is successfully produced,” he mentioned.
Rydström explained that those who invest in this crop generally come from urban areas, they are not usually farmers or actors linked to agriculture. Mainly foreign investors are seen, although lately much of the capital has been nationalized, he commented.
There are also rural producers who choose to diversify their production towards this crop, although they are not necessarily the ones who invest all the capital for its development.
Information to decide
“In Uruguay there is a great culture of growers who cultivated in a much more individual logic, plant by plant, than what a farmer or an agronomist thinks, who think about cultivation in general,” said Rydström.
At Expo Prado, data from 22 producers (33 crops grown in the field and 10 in greenhouses) surveyed in 2021/22 were presented, to “pay more attention to the crop and be able to generate information for producers and potential investors,” he indicated. It was the first step prior to a new investigation that will begin in October (financed by the MGAP and the INIA within the framework of their agreement).
Santiago Dogliotti, professor grade 5 of the Faculty of Agronomy of the University of the Republic, who presented the data in the Rural, highlighted that One of the biggest challenges for producers is how to enter the production in the market.
Rydström stressed that research is important, mainly because “one of the challenges is the lack of certainty”, and with new data, producers will have more elements to decide on their crops.
Budget and legal framework to investigate
The MGAP and the INIA will finance the work of the technicians who will visit the crops several times and harvest a part of them to measure the characteristics of the flowers.
They will also finance laboratory studies, for example the measurement of THC.
During the signing of the agreement, at the Expo Prado, he maintained that with this agreement “a budget and legal framework are given to work.”
The president of INIA, José Bonica, highlighted the possibilities of developing the crop, saying that hemp can play an important role in the country and pointed out that “there are expectations and we have to meet them.”
He stressed that the research will improve the decision-making of producers, which will translate into improvements for the crop and with them better economic results.
