Smart Specialization – Industrial Hemp

The notion that out of 3.15 million hectares of agricultural land in the Republic of Croatia, only 63% is cultivated, while the rest are grazing fields, and that plains mainly stretch in the area of temperate continental climate is a solid natural foundation for proposing a theory of a new trend in economic development, more precisely in the field of smart specialization, i.e. the come back of Cannabis sativa to the farming land of Croatia. Upon reviewing the historical facts related to the cultivation and use of hemp on the territory of Europe from the Neolithic to becoming the legal means of tax payment in America in the 18th century and honouring the fact that, in the 60s,Yugoslavia was the sixth largest producer and exporter of hemp in the world and that, in those years, about 9,000 hectares of the territory of the Republic of Croatia were in hemp, the idea about developing a model that has already been tried and tested throughout history crystallized. The fact that over 25,000 different products such as biodegradable plastics, lightweight building panels and insulation materials can be derived from hemp speak in favour of this idea, as well as the fact that its natural biomass could cover the entire energy demand that is presently met by oil and that its seeds are unparalleled in their nutritional value as well as being an impressive source of minerals and vitamins. With the proposed amendments to legislative regulations relating to the cultivation of Cannabis sativa hope is slowly restored to demotivated producers who, according to the present rules and a strict procedure, may only use the seed, while destroying the stem, but the uninformed public still remains a big issue. The presentation of the thesis of „the uninformed public“, which is a reflection of a long negative campaign targeted at hemp, and the confirmation of this premise via a survey conducted among the senior students of the high school and Polytechnic of Pozega, naturally lead to the idea of a comprehensive campaign. The conclusion proposes a cardinal turn in the approach to hemp through the execution of a model introducing the public to its potentials and possibilities of use, utilizing the elements of a communication mix while implementing the results of the conducted survey.