Ondara Directorate has kicked off production at its Garray Environmental Business Park greenhouse with the first batch of medical cannabis. The planting follows AEMPS' (Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices) approval in early July.
The crop was cloned from mother plants by the company's current staff. A second batch is also currently underway. While fully productive, both will also be used to test technical processes in real conditions and train incoming employees.
Soria province, already a tobacco hub, now sees cannabis as a new source of jobs and revenue.
The company says the start-up phase is designed to meet Good Agricultural and Harvesting Practices (GACP) standards and prepare for EU-GMP certification.
Scaling up and rehiring
Ondara Directorate will begin bringing back furloughed staff as production ramps up. The pace will depend on AEMPS' decision on a pending request to expand annual cultivation limits.
The first hires will focus on key roles like integrated pest management, with more positions added from September.
Source: abc.es
