This week, the newly appointed Agriculture Secretary (Gonzalez Ramon) said that Puerto Rico requires private investment to foster the budding hemp industry, or the American territory risks stalling the sector.
Gonzalez asserted that the growing industry might face problems if it fails to acquire private capital to set up hemp processing facilities. He told the Noticel site that he believes that multiple expectations were put at the start; however, the sector hasn’t commenced with the expected speed.
Roman further said that his administration would be conducting a hemp feasibility test in the next 180 days to determine whether the project will be tackled or not.
In 2019, Puerto Rico launched a hemp pilot measure following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. The bill authorized marijuana throughout the United States and its territories.
In April 2020, Puerto Rico’s DEDC (Department of Economic Development and Commerce) asserted that it was interested in projects and added 18,000 land acres for industrial hemp cultivation and processing. It added that local grants for licensed hemp growers were already set up, and government land and manufacturing institutions were available for lease. However, those private measures have remained stagnant.
The newly appointed Agriculture Secretary warned that unless investors appear, the sector has an unclear future. He said that hemp growing licenses granted by the Agriculture Department have resulted in trials, but he asked what would be the next step in case of high hemp yields.
Roman asserted that a more optimistic outcome is expected in Puerto Rico’s medical cannabis, which is receiving strong private investment across the globe.
According to a marijuana report proposed by Zoila Rosa (independent Deputy) in 2020, Puerto Rico would make efforts to industrialize extracts like hemp-based CBD and cannabis extracts.
Production of medical marijuana would be controlled and supervised by the U.S Health Ministry.
