Portugal: Regional Government of the Azores invests in industrial hemp as an emerging crop

In the remote and picturesque Azores archipelago, where agriculture is the backbone of regional cohesion, industrial hemp promises to flourish, with the support of the Regional Government. The idea of ​​incorporating industrial hemp into the regional economy was driven mainly by Grace Castanho, and has been cemented after several editions of a local conference focused on the topic, CannAzores. Two years ago, the Regional Secretary of Agriculture of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, António Ventura, already highlighted the potential of hemp and highlighted the need for crop diversification for more sustainable agriculture in the Azores. 

The commitment to sustainability and the need for agricultural diversification is combined with the exploration of hemp as an emerging crop in the archipelago. This is the desire expressed in the new program launched by the Regional Government of the Azores, with the “Program for Training Farmers and Promoting Literacy in Sustainable Production and Consumption”, promoted by the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Regional Directorate of Agriculture. This is work that has been continuously developed after successive editions of CannAzores (2021, 2022 and 2023), organized by Graça Castanho, university professor, founder of CannAzores, CEO of Neuron Bonus and President of the General Assembly of the Confraria Internacional Cannabis Portugal . The event has as local partners the Regional Government of the Azores, the Agricultural Association of S. Miguel, the Ribeira Grande City Council, the Terra Verde Association and Casa do Povo da Maia.

And there is already a community with around 40 interested parties, who participated in a meeting promoted by the Azorean brotherhood and the CannAzores, at the beginning of December. The Brotherhood is developing several initiatives to support farmers who wish to start hemp cultivation, with support ranging from seed acquisition to soil analysis. Over the next two years, the Azorean archipelago will not only have several training sessions for the region's farmers in hemp cultivation, but will also have industrial hemp production supported by the Regional Government, with a view to making the culture emerge and develop.

Regional Government facilitates training to produce hemp in the Azores

The main highlight of the initiative is the inclusion of industrial hemp as an emerging crop in the Azores, a position that not only demonstrates that the crop has potential, but is also the result of community dynamics, which contributed positively to opening the “door” to hemp.

The recognition of the potential of industrial hemp by the Regional Government will allow Azorean farmers access to information and training on the crop, in a bid to increase the areas of hemp cultivated in the Azores, which are currently practically non-existent. Mixed training courses and seminars are planned in 2024 and 2025, under the title “Producing Hemp in the Azores”, with a view to promoting understanding and efficient practice of cultivating this crop. These sessions also aim to provide a platform for farmers and interested parties to discuss and learn about nuances of hemp cultivation in the Azores region.

According to Graça Castanho, the training and the Seminar on hemp, included in the Plan of the Regional Directorate of Agriculture, will be the responsibility of the Confraria Internacional Cannabis Portugal, which has in its statutes the areas of training, organization of events and specialized consultancy in the area of cannabis.

Sustainable performance and Agri-food Observatory

The Azores Regional Government program is based on 3 objectives:

• Development of a “Farmer Training Program for the Sustainable Performance of Agricultural Farms”, in order to equip Azorean farmers with specific knowledge to face the challenges of the nine islands of the archipelago;
• the importance of literacy in sustainable production and consumption, which aims to raise awareness among the population about the main productions of the Azores, sustainable production methods, circular economy, local markets, social, economic, environmental and landscape value of agricultural production, and the crucial role nutrition in human health;
• creation of an “Agrofood Observatory of the Azores”, a platform for collecting, processing and sharing information for different end users. The use of Power BI®, Microsoft Corporation®'s Business Intelligence system, will be crucial for transforming raw data into dashboards informative and accessible.

Confraria Internacional Canábis Portugal supports those interested in hemp

The cultivation of hemp in the Azores during 2024 will have strong monitoring from government and research entities, in a work of combined efforts that is being developed by the Confraria Internacional Canábis Portugal. Thus, those interested in cultivation will be able to count on support in purchasing seeds, making authorization requests, as well as receiving production support through soil analyses, training models and training sessions.

Those interested in hemp cultivation in the Azores who would like to receive more information about this activity can contact the Confraria via email at confrariacanabis@gmail.com

The article was edited on December 21st with corrections relating to information about the CannAzores editions as well as to include additional details about the organization of the training and seminar.