About Project

As a result of legal regulations, there is practically no breeding of hemp in Germany and many of the varieties approved in the EU are not available on the market or are of insufficient agronomic quality. Despite the restrictions, the area under cultivation in Germany has more than doubled in recent years and the demand for high-quality seed and varieties adapted to the location is increasing. We therefore see outstanding potential here for the breeding of hemp by the State Seed Breeding Institute. A corresponding special permit for the breeding of hemp has been approved by the Federal Opium Agency.

The aim of our research project is to evaluate the possibility of breeding hemp for non-medical purposes with a focus on different end products such as increasing/improving the fiber, oil, protein and cannabidiol content with a simultaneous selection for a low (<0.2%) delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.

For our research project, 23 varieties from the common catalog of varieties for agricultural plant species of the European Commission are used. These will be grown in triplicate at three locations in 2023 and 2024. The material will be genotyped, the THC content will be determined and various agronomic traits will be tested.