Cannabis farming is illegal in most of the countries for various reasons. But, this year, Canada officially announced its decision to legalize cannabis farming as the county wants to launch a recreational cannabis market. Along with legalizing cannabis farming, the federal government has decided to grant some funding to the cannabis farmers just like any other farming industry.
Canada has always supported the agriculture industry with its special programs and tie-ups to promote innovation and growth. It was during the annual meeting held in Vancouver that the Canadian officials decided to qualify cannabis producers in the recreational and medical sectors for agricultural financial help that is offered to traditional farmers.
Though marijuana farming will receive some funding from the federal government, the fund will be a lot lesser than that for other products like dairy and barley as the government will not provide all the safety nets for cannabis producers like it is made available for others.
People are expressing mixed views about the recreation of the cannabis market. While some people are opposing the idea of funding pot farming as it is not a staple crop, others defend the decision with the reason that cannabis can be introduced in the Canadian edible food market very soon. Canada is planning to launch its marijuana recreational market in the month of October.
Marijuana farmers in Canada will not be eligible for two of the major farming programs provided by the government. AgriStability and AgriInvest are the two popular programs that the Canadian government offers to farmers to promote farming. AgriStability is a risk management program that offers help when farming operations are facing production loss or increased costs. On the other hand, AgriInvest is a producer-government savings account that allows farmers set apart an amount from their profit to recover from future losses. AgriInvest is a self- managed account for risk management.
Marijuana farmers who have just set their first foot in the business are waiting for environmental and innovation subsidies. All these subsidies will be introduced for Cannabis farming once the marijuana business is matured in the market.
According to Rick Burton, deputy minister for agriculture of Saskatchewan, cannabis farmers will not be eligible for AgriStability and AgriInvest as the cannabis farming industry is still in the process of getting stabilized. The deputy minister also assured that these restrictions can be taken down once the Canadian officials get comfortable with this new crop cultivation.
