Brazil Agriculture Agency Seeks Long-Term Cannabis Cultivation Research Program – Ganjapreneur | How to order Skittles Moonrock online

Brazil’s national agricultural research agency Embrapa is devising a 12-year research program to investigate large-scale cannabis cultivation, Reuters reports.

Embrapa has previously worked to support Brazillian exports including grains, cotton, and vegetables with agricultural genetic research to optimize planting and harvests. The cannabis program would seek to establish a cannabis seed bank, adapt cannabis varietals for optimal growth in Brazil, and identify and develop hubs for cannabis production throughout the country, according to the report.

“Can you imagine if we had already carried out the genetic improvement of this plant like we’ve done with cotton in the last 50 years?” — Daniela Bittencourt, a cannabis work group researcher, via Reuters

While recreational cannabis use and cultivation remain prohibited in Brazil, about ten domestic and international companies have already reached out about cannabis cultivation research partnerships with Embrapa, Bittencourt said in the report.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Supreme Court legalized the cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution of hemp-derived medicinal products in a ruling last November, giving the country’s health agency Anvisa until May of this year to establish regulations for the industry.

The same court also ruled to decriminalize cannabis possession for personal use last June, while Brazil established its medical cannabis program in 2019.

Get daily cannabis business news updates. Subscribe

Ganjapreneur is made possible by our partners:

Create a profile View all categories