Sixteen communities and approximately 128 small traditional cannabis farmers will be targeted for the support over the next three to four years under a program that aims to eliminate illicit cultivation of cannabis by transitioning farmers into the legally regulated industry.
Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, says communities participating in the Alternative Development Programme 2.0 will be allowed to cultivate up to 10 acres of land.
“Each participating community will be required to sell output to a person who has a license from the Cannabis Licensing Authority, and we expect that to be in place by April 2023,” he said as he outlined assistance for small farmers in the medical cannabis industry.
Senator Hill highlighted further support through the mother farm concept. This is a shared economy approach in which a licensed cannabis cultivator or processor agrees with a small-scale/traditional farmer to cultivate the crop and sell it back to the mother farm/licensee.
Read more at caribbeannationalweekly.com