Turkish government plans to significantly expand hemp industry

In 1961, Turkish farmers grew hemp on about 14,000 hectares, in 2017 this figure was only 11.3 hundred square meters. In 1961, the country produced about 5000 tons of hemp fibre, in 2018 – about 7 tons. Between 2015 and 2018, the country's cannabis exports were estimated at 13 tonnes, valued at $24,000, while imports for the same period amounted to 4,521 tonnes, valued at $5.8 million.

Turkey plans to increase technical cannabis crops for further use in the automotive, paper, textile and other industries in order to reduce imports of cannabis products, including from Ukraine and China.

Beginning in 2019, there was renewed discussion of a now virtually non-existent but previously widespread cannabis crop in Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the initiator of the hemp initiatives in the country, and he raised the issue of the resumption of cannabis production during a meeting with representatives of the local administration.

In the course of the event, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli said that the government plans to take steps to increase the area where cannabis will be grown. A number of companies are currently licensed to grow or process cannabis plants, but they are expected to increase significantly in the near future, he said.

Agricultural producers in different regions of the country have been extremely positive about the government's initiatives to revive the hemp industry in Turkey. In particular, the farmers of the Black Sea provinces of Castamonu and Rize welcomed this kind of statement by the President. In their speeches, farmers in Castamonu noted that despite the external negative impact on the local hemp growers in the province stopped growing plants only in 2002. Most of the industrial crops were replaced by garlic and sugar beet, but the income from the above crops could not compensate for the profit from the technical hemp. Cannabis producers were part of almost all provincial agricultural administrations in the region, which allowed them to exercise significant influence over regional policy. Hemp growers sold their raw materials to a local paper mill that produced cigarette paper. Today, these facilities use imported pulp as the main raw material base for pulp production.

The representatives of the Kendirli district of the province of Rize noted that the region is so called because of the huge amount of cannabis cultivated previously in its territory. The locals of hemp fibre have been weaving Rizzie fabric since ancient times, from which shirts were made. This tradition is an important cultural element of the inhabitants of the region, the origins of which are lost somewhere in the 9th century BC. Despite the ban on growing and processing cannabis, since the 70s of the last century imported hemp fibres have been imported into the province to this day, weaving Rhizi fabrics and making feretiko.feretiko.

Association Commentary on Ukrainian Technical Hemp

The history of cannabis cultivation in the Turkish territory dates back to 1800-1500 B.C., and not only was cannabis raw materials grown and processed in the country, but also actively used, and there was a vigorous trade in various cannabis products with countries of both Asian and European continents. Since ancient times, the Western and Central Black Sea regions of Turkey have been used particularly effectively for plant cultivation. Until 1971, when the Turkish army overthrew the government led by Suleyman Demirel (who did not want to reduce cannabis production despite pressure from the US administration), Turkey was one of the largest producers of hemp raw materials in the world. In particular, in 1961, Turkish farmers cultivated cannabis on an area of about 14 thousand hectares, in 2017 this figure was only 11.3 hundred square meters. In 1961, the country produced about 5000 tons of hemp fibre, in 2018 – about 7 tons. Between 2015 and 2018, the country's cannabis exports were estimated at 13 tons, worth $24,000, while imports for the same period amounted to 4,521 tons, worth $5.8 million.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator