I thought hard about this title. It seems the best fit for hemp, a subject that has become a fairy tale hovering between existence and absence. I know this opening may surprise outsiders. I can almost hear you saying, “We see all the steps Turkey is taking on hemp in the news.” That is exactly what I want to address.
Another hemp harvest, apparently
A few days ago, a report published by Cumhuriyet appeared in my feed, and I felt the need to say something. It is just one of many misleading reports published so far. We are tired of appearances taking the place of actual work for Turkey's hemp industry.
We do not intend to blame institutions or individuals. We know the government and relevant organizations are acting in good faith, but the process is going nowhere.
The never-ending development of “domestic seed”
For about three years, we have seen reports about efforts to develop domestic seed. While countries legalizing hemp move straight into production without getting caught up in seed development, I cannot understand why we are trying to make an already domestic seed domestic again. Many countries have also left this to the private sector with great success. Doing the exact opposite seems rather strange.
Why domestic seed?
The phrase sounds appealing at first. But considering that hemp originated in this geography and the whole world shares seed, I cannot see its advantage. Does the domestic seed have higher CBD levels? Or does it produce stronger fibers? With no information about the seed, I cannot understand the repeated emphasis on developing it.
Let us put seed aside. The real question is why misleading news appears when Turkey's industry is making no progress. Cumhuriyet's report leaves a positive impression, but reality is rather different. Growers complain they cannot find support.
One sentence in the announcement was particularly exasperating: “As Samsun, we are progressing toward becoming an important hemp center in Turkey and the world.” How are we becoming a global hemp center without producing a product or conducting scientific research?
As this comment below the report shows, producers are struggling. They need support during both production and sales.
They also want an answer to an important question: What will we do with the hemp we produce?
The question matters for this reason: you have grown hemp and extracted its fiber. Is there a factory to process it? Unfortunately, no. What difference does domestic seed make if Turkey has no facility to process hemp fiber?
Take Turkey-made HempKey shoes, for example. I witnessed firsthand the enormous difficulties the company overcame to get this far. Yes, the shoes are made in Turkey, but the hemp fabric is imported from France. France therefore earns the money. With thousands of Turkish farmers eager to participate, we should consider why we cannot bring growers and manufacturers together.
Creating the impression of rapid progress when not a single serious step has been taken badly damages the industry.
Another recent report says Erdoğan Topuz sells his products worldwide! According to our information, the situation is quite different. He is struggling to continue and is on the verge of giving up. We plan to interview producers on the YouTube channel we hope to launch soon and explain the issue in greater detail.
The Ulaş Oğrak example
Ulaş Oğrak's experience sums up everything we have described. We could call it the story of losing to America a person who wanted to do good work in Turkey.
Read the details of Sözcü's report here.
What is the solution?
The solution is simple. The state should leave the business to the private sector and remain a regulator. Many countries, especially Switzerland and the United States, built enormous hemp industries in a short time. None rushed to produce “domestic seed.” Incentives allowed companies to develop their own seeds, which they now market worldwide.
We have waited three years for seed, and it is still unclear when the process will end. I do not know how we will catch up with the world at this pace...
