Technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture finalize a note consolidating information on the economic and social benefits of , which could help to give impetus to a bill in the Senate that deals with the topic, but which is stuck in the Agriculture Committee awaiting a rapporteur.
The note consolidates favorable understandings from ministry departments and entities such as the (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) and also includes documents from organizations linked to the UN and places where exploration already occurs, such as France and South Africa.
Hemp is a species of the cannabis family with a very low THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content. THC is the active ingredient with psychotropic properties.
At the Ministry of Agriculture, the analysis of the exploitation of industrial hemp is in charge of Ana Paula Porfírio, head of the Social Participation and Diversity department.
An agronomist, she defends the benefits of the plant. “Hemp improves the soil, fixes carbon and has a “, he says, highlighting that the fiber also has other uses, such as brick production, insulation material, among others.
The ministry’s assessment is that the exploitation of industrial hemp does not require approval from the (National Health Surveillance Agency), as it is a vegetable crop like any other.
Porfírio says that the technical notes seek to show that hemp does not pose any risks to human health.
“The bill comes as a provocation on the subject, and the ministry reports technically on the subject, which is important at the current time. We are making everything very didactic to show that it is a plant with which you can do many things and that, Due to its ease of handling, it requires little pesticide, which also helps with sustainability.”
Currently, there is a bill from the senator (PSD-SP) that addresses the issue. The text is in the Senate’s Agriculture and Agrarian Reform Committee, chaired by Senator Alan Rick (União-AC), who has not yet appointed a rapporteur.
President of the FPA (Parliamentary Agricultural Front), (PP-PR) signals support for the exploration of industrial hemp. “I have no problem with agricultural production. What we do not accept is the production and release of narcotics”, he says.
president of the National Industrial Hemp Association, states that regulation will be important to make the country competitive in a crop in which it can stand out. “Hemp cultivation has never been a problematic issue around the world. France, for example, has never banned it,” he says.
“Hemp is already an extremely relevant plant for agribusiness and industry. But it has not yet gone through the genetic improvement process that soybeans, for example, have gone through. When we have systematic action by Embrapa and other agents to adapt this plant to Brazilian soil and climate and select the most useful and profitable characteristics, hemp could become one of the country’s main crops.”
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