Berlin, 09/29/2023: Several grants for cannabis research could be introduced into the current budget deliberations of the 2024 federal budget, FDP budget politicians Frank Schäffler (MdB) and Gero Hocker (MdB) announced via press release. The German Cannabis Business Association (BvCW) is pleased about this funding, the association has been advocating for this for several years.
Specifically, the following funding is provided:
- 1.5 million euros for the promotion of the application of innovative methods of precision farming or associated machinery and software with the aim of securing and increasing yields in arable farming in the future in a resource-efficient and environmentally friendly manner.
- 1 million euros for research into the great potential of plants such as hemp, cattail, reed canary grass, straw, flax, wood from deciduous tree species, calamity wood and possibly also fungi for alternative raw materials and insulation materials in the construction sector.
- 600,000 euros for studies on seed development of hemp adapted to German soils.
In addition, 1.5 million euros will be invested to improve the data on the risk of synthetic cannabinoids to the human body.
“Especially against the backdrop of climate change, the research for domestic cultivation comes at the right time. The hemp plant is robust, potentially high-yielding even in drought conditions, and ecologically valuable”, says Marijn Roersch van der Hoogte, department coordinator for industrial hemp & food at the BvCW.
Jürgen Neumeyer, managing director of the BvCW, adds, “We are delighted to have achieved this funding. This shows that the potential of industrial hemp is increasingly being recognized by politicians. Those who want more of the renewable raw material hemp to be cultivated should at the same time make sure that the over-bureaucratization – such as the mandatory flowering notification and harvest release – is dismantled. At the same time, more research dollars are still needed for early success evaluation of the coming genus cannabis regulation.”
More documents from the cannabis industry on the regulatory discussion of industrial hemp:
ELEMENTS Volume 32: Position paper – Hemp as foodstuff
ELEMENTS Volume 31: Position paper – Agricultural support for industrial hemp
ELEMENTS Volume 21: Why it is practically impossible that industrial hemp is misused for intoxication purposes
ELEMENTS Volume 19: Industrial hemp in Germany – overview in figures
ELEMENTS Volume 12: Hemp as a renewable raw material – positions and demands from the Industrial Hemp & Food sector
An overview of the ELEMENTE series of publications can be found here.