Private Sector important for succession of hemp industry in Guyana – Int’l expert

…says will create new dispensation of business people

The role of the Private Sector in Guyana’s hemp industry is vital for its longevity, according to Neurvana International representative, Vidjai Doerga on Saturday last.
Neurvana International is a global cannabis industries company delivering industry-leading cannabis agronomy, based in Miami.
Doerga, during a virtual panel discussion, highlighted that the Private Sector involvement plays an essential role in the fruition of the hemp industry in Guyana. He alluded that without assistance from the Private Sector body in Guyana’s hemp industry there would be a molecule of hope for the succession in the new industry.
“It is essentially the Private Sector, if it is not a Private Sector effort it cannot proliferate to the volume of production levels necessary to make Guyana competitive in the world market.”

He added that due to the snowball effect of hemp, it would be beneficial to local markets because of the multiple uses that the plant offers.
“So it’s always something to be understood that hemp as a product can be extremely beneficial to a local market because of the amount of uses that it has, so it can very much become an import replacement crop for a lot of products that are expensive that we have to import so that would be plastic products, rubber products things, like that that are produced in other countries,” Doerga explained.
He reiterated that if the industry is allowed to grow under the Private Sector, it will create a rotation of investments that attracts old and new businessmen and women, leading to the industry’s long-lasting success.
“If the industry is allowed to grow and really proliferate on the basis of Private Sector, entrepreneurship, you know, capitalism, really driving the business people to develop this industry and creating new business people out of it. It is essentially a Private Sector effort that would make it successful to the point there could be an export industry,” he said.

Value added
President Dr Irfaan Ali had said that the Government would be moving in the direction of the value-added aspect that the hemp industry has to offer. He had said that the industry is not only about hemp production but having the processing and value-added facilities here in Guyana.
In this light, Doerga congratulated President Ali for recognising the importance of value-added products that stem from the production of hemp in Guyana.
He said, “Well this is where I really get my, you know, my hats off to the Government and President Irfaan Ali. That’s really what takes an industry to the next level is doing value-added products – downstream products.”

“If you have a single acre of hemp production aren’t really a single acre of any production, roughly speaking in terms of industry, let’s call it gauging that we’ve been able to do for Guyana, a farmer would be able to see, let’s say about 8 to 10000 US dollars out of an acre of hemp if he has about 10 acres in production…That number goes and hits a very hard multiplier the moment that processing is added to the mix,” Doerga explained.
In addition, hemp cultivator in the United States, Joshua Steensland said that the different uses of the plant would not only be value-added to the industry, but to the community of farmers and cultivators at large.
“It being able to allow the farmer or the cultivator to work with you know local people who handle those various different parts of the plants it’s really gonna create not just of a value-added to the product itself but to the community in general,” Steensland said.
Both Doerga and Steensland are encouraging the Government to reach out for advice and input from persons who are experienced with the knowledge of the plant.
In this regard, President Ali has already announced his intention to engage ganja planters on the viability of the hemp industry in Guyana.
“I intend to have a meeting soon with all the marijuana growers in this country. I intend to have a meeting and let them understand that there’s a viable future in the hemp industry and bring them into that discussion and move away from the marijuana that has social consequences… It’s only if you deal with reality, you can run a country. They come with the technical skills, frankly speaking,” the Head of State had said.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister, Anil Nandlall had disclosed last week that the Government is aiming to establish a viable industry with the completion of the first draft of the Hemp Bill and is now reviewing it.
“The Hemp Bill is in first draft and is being considered by the Government, and the Government will determine what the next steps are,” Nandlall noted.
The Attorney General explained that the draft Bill is an expansive one that looks at what is being done in other territories around the world. However, he noted that there is not much to take from the Caribbean region since Antigua and Barbuda is the nation with a draft Bill while the others permit the cultivation of hemp through minor amendments to relevant drugs or narcotics law.
Hemp is a botanical class of Cannabis sativa cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use.