Luís Albuquerque, from Agrovete, wants to produce hemp seeds in Portugal because “there is no capacity to meet demand”

The hemp industry in Portugal is growing. The ongoing projects, the growing area under cultivation and the announcements of new processing facilities are signs that the industry is maturing. However, this growth also brings new challenges, namely in Portugal’s ability to compete and assert itself in relation to hemp cultivation.

We spoke briefly with Luís Albuquerque, a graduate in Agricultural Engineering and sales manager at Agrovete, at the World Hemp Forum in November, in France, who gave us his brief overview of this industry and the prospects for Portugal.

Luís Albuquerque, sales manager at Agrovete, at the World Hemp Forum in France. Photo: António João Costa | CannaReporter®

Agrovete is in the cannabis sector and now hemp is also a sector of interest for your company, isn't it?

Agrovete is a seed company for agriculture. Generally speaking, it is part of a pharmaceutical group led by Iberfar. We have a medicinal cannabis project, which is produced on our farm and then processed in Iberfar's laboratories and sold by Ferraz Lynce. Alongside this interest in medicinal cannabis, logically, as we are farmers and handle seeds, the needs of hemp cultivation began to emerge and we followed suit. Then we were approached by the people from Cânhamor and a project we have with the textile industry, from CITEVE, which analyses the quality of fibres. We handle the agricultural part of this project. We carry out trials with the University of Beja and also in Badajoz, for legal reasons, with CTAEX, which is part of the Junta da Extremadura. We know these people very well and have developed several projects there. In Spain, we are often invited and we attended the CTAEX congress in Badajoz. It was clear that those who left after us are already far ahead, and that is our sad reality in Portugal. When we also heard about this conference here in France, as it was the first one, we wanted to be there, and it was great. We found partners and seed suppliers here, and we hope to develop these partnerships in the future.

Hemp has shown great potential, both in construction and in fiber and textiles. Is there a promising market here, even in Portugal, in the future?In Portugal we have half of that demand and the numbers we saw here [in France] were impressive. I mean, they doubled production in two years and they expect to double it again in another half dozen years.

I had a meeting with the largest supplier of seeds for this crop and we hope to be able to multiply and produce hemp seeds in Portugal for Portuguese and Spanish farmers. This is because there will be a shortage of seeds in Europe this year, as there was last year. There will be a shortage again this year because the supplier is unable to meet the increased demand. It has also been clear that this crop has been more or less dormant for some time and therefore has not received much research. Of course, demand and research are what drive the development of projects and I think that within half a dozen years this will be at cruising speed.

With Portugal playing a leading role?
I think so, I think we have a place.

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Antonio João Costa

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I am one of the directors of CannaReporter, which I founded together with Laura Ramos. I am from the unique Island of Madeira, where I currently reside. While I was in Lisbon at FCUL studying Physical Engineering, I became involved in the national hemp and cannabis scene and participated in several associations, some of which I am still a member of. I follow the global industry and especially legislative advances regarding the different uses of cannabis.

I can be contacted by email at joao.costa@cannareporter.eu

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