30

Letters

Dear friends,

        It is with pleasure that we inform you about the successful initiation of the first privately set up hemp research project in Slovakia. (Hemp is also grown in the Gene Bank of the Research Institute of Vegetable Crops in Piestany and in the Research and Breeding Institute SELEKT in Bucany where it is used for pollen isolation, but of these are state funded).
        Our new Narcotics Act issued last year is much less favorable to the industrial and research hemp growing than in later years so we are really happy to have obtained the permission of the Ministry of Public Health. Our non-investment fund co-operates with the Research Institute of Grassland and Mountain Agriculture Banska Bystrica which provided land and staff. We take care about legislation, finances and seeds.
        The main aim of this project is to test the economic efficacy of fibre hemp growing in the conditions of mountainous parts of Slovakia (Orava region, 40 km to the Polish border with elevation of 400 meters above sea level). Of course, gaining experience is not less important. We are also building a basis for industrial hemp growing in the forthcoming years and are looking for business partners abroad.
        This year, we have only sown the Slovak cultivar ‘’Rastislavicke’. (Due to the bureaucratic problems we could not obtain foreign breeds by a favorable agro-technical date. We will use them next year.)
        We will keep you updated on our effort.

        Hempfully,
        Boris Banas
        Managing Director
        "Why Not Hemp?", a non-investment fund
        E-mail: diverzita@bb.telecom.sk