Hemp Enterprises in the Czech Republic
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Masaryk University Faculty of Social Studies Department of Environmental Studies Diploma Work Šárka Roušavá, B.A.A. Towards Environmental Sustainability: Hemp Enterprises in the Czech Republic Study Advisor: Benjamin Vail, Ph.D. Brno 2011 Thanks I would like to express my gratitude to Benjamin Vail, Věra Horáková, Michal Ruman, Jiří Vyhlídal, Nadia Johanisová, Dairel Pérez Santana, Helena Švédová, Vít Šindlář, Kateřina Sedláčková for all their inspiration, feedback and technical help. Thanks also to all the respondents for participating and to Hana Gabrielová for providing hemp paper, which this diploma work has been printed on. Declaration I declare that I worked on this diploma work independently and with the use of the listed literature. Brno, 20 May 2011 Šárka Roušavá, B.A.A. 2 Annotation A partial solution to some of the wide-ranging environmental problems of our time could be provided through the cultivation of hemp, one of the most resilient and diverse plants, and its implementation in the economy. Cannabis sativa is environmentally beneficial in its actual cultivation, contributing to soil health and climate change mitigation. Furthermore, hemp can be made into thousands of useful, non-toxic and easily recyclable or biodegradable products in the food, pharmaceutical, textile, paper, building, energy and other industries thereby offering environmentally-friendly alternatives to polluting materials and processes that are currently being used by petroleum- and synthetics-based economies. In addition to a description of the plant and some of its many uses, aspects of its historical and global context are described. On the premise that hemp use can have a positive impact on environmental sustainability, the main objective is to explore the state of hemp culture in the Czech Republic – to discover who have been some of the players in the Czech hemp industry, to determine what obstacles they face and what factors have made it possible for some of them to flourish. Through library, Internet and empirical research, a general overview has been made of hemp- related activities in the Czech Republic since the late 1990s, when the controlled cultivation of hemp was legalized. This study shows that small enterprises are leading the way in a variety of activities in emerging Czech hemp markets. Key words: bioregional economics, Cannabis sativa, Czech Republic, environmental sustainability, environmentally-friendly alternatives, hemp Anotace Alespoň částečné řešení řady současných environmentálních problémů by mohlo přinést pěstování a hospodářské vyuţití technického konopí, jedné z nejhouţevnatějších a nejuţitečnějších rostlin. Samo pěstování Cannabis sativa (konopí seté) příznivě ovlivňuje ţivotní prostředí tím, ţe přispívá k udrţování dobré kondice půdy a zmírňování projevů změn klimatu. Technické konopí můţe být navíc vyuţito k výrobě nepřeberného mnoţství uţitečných, netoxických a snadno recyklovatelných nebo biologicky odbouratelných produktů. Můţe být vyuţito při výrobě potravin, léků, textilií, papíru, stavebních materiálů nebo energie. Řadě dalších odvětví, dnes závislých na ropě a jejích derivátech, technické konopí nabízí alternativu šetrnou k ţivotnímu prostředí. Vedle deskripce rostliny samotné a některých z mnoha jejích vyuţití jsou v práci zachyceny také historické a globální souvislosti jejího pěstování. Práce je zaloţena na předpokladu, ţe technické konopí můţe mít pozitivní vliv na udrţitelnost prostředí. Hlavním cílem je popsat konopnou kulturu v České republice – vyhledat významné představitele českého průmyslu spojeného s technickým konopím, identifikovat, s jakými překáţkami se setkávají a jaké faktory některým z nich umoţnily být úspěšní. Kontrolované pěstování technického konopí bylo v České republice legalizováno koncem devadesátých let. Obecný přehled o aktivitách spojených s legálním pěstováním je zaloţen na studiu literatury, internetových zdrojů a empirickém výzkumu. Výsledky ukazují, ţe český trh kolem technického konopí vzniká díky rozličným aktivitám malých firem. Klíčová slova: bioregionální ekonomika, konopí seté, Česká republika, udrţitelnost prostředí, prostředí přátelské alternativy, technické konopí Word count: 26,830 + 1523 in notes = 28,353 3 Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Environmental Sustainability ......................................................................................... 7 1.2 Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture ............................................................................ 8 1.3 Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration ................................................................ 10 1.4 Benefits in Agriculture .................................................................................................. 10 1.5 Bioregional Solutions ................................................................................................... 11 2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Contacting Respondents ............................................................................................. 14 2.2 Qualitative Inquiry ........................................................................................................ 15 3 WHAT IS HEMP? ............................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Botanical Description of Cannabis ............................................................................... 16 3.2 Agronomic Characteristics of Hemp ............................................................................ 17 3.3 History of Hemp in the World ....................................................................................... 18 3.4 History of Hemp in the United States ........................................................................... 19 3.5 Demonization, Criminalization and Decline of Hemp Use ........................................... 19 3.6 Technology and Industry ............................................................................................. 20 3.7 Inconsistencies in Policy .............................................................................................. 21 3.8 Current Legal Restrictions ........................................................................................... 22 3.9 Resurgence of Hemp Culture around the World .......................................................... 23 3.10 Uses of Hemp ............................................................................................................ 23 3.10.1 Food and Medicine ............................................................................................. 23 3.10.2 Fibre Uses .......................................................................................................... 25 3.10.3 Other Industrial Uses ......................................................................................... 26 3.10.4 Fuel: Biofuel and Biomass .................................................................................. 27 3.11 Viability and Equipment ............................................................................................. 28 4 HEMP CULTURE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC ................................................................... 31 4.1 History of Hemp in the Czech Lands ........................................................................... 31 4.2 Potential and State of Hemp Culture in the Czech Republic........................................ 32 4.3 Difficulties in the New Industry .................................................................................... 33 4.4 Agricultural Subsidies .................................................................................................. 34 4.5 Legal Status of Hemp and Cannabis in the Czech Republic ....................................... 36 4.6 The Situation of Medicinal and Non-medicinal Cannabis ............................................ 37 4.7 Hemp Organizations and Enterprises .......................................................................... 39 4.7.1 Konopa ................................................................................................................. 39 4.7.2 Hemp Association of the Czech Republic ............................................................ 40 4.7.3 Industrial Hemp Association ................................................................................. 40 4.7.4 Current and Past Hemp Enterprises in the Czech Republic ................................. 40 5 FINDINGS FROM RESPONDENTS ................................................................................... 41 5.1 Hempoint, spol. s r.o. ................................................................................................... 41 5.2 Hemp Production Cz, spol. s r.o. ................................................................................. 43 5.3 Rieter Cz, spol. s r.o. ................................................................................................... 46 5.4 Juta, a.s. ...................................................................................................................... 47 4 5.5 Canabest, spol. s r.o. ................................................................................................... 47 5.6 OP Papírna, spol. s r.o. ..............................................................................................