The Global Hemp Innovation Center operated by Oregon State University will receive $2.5 million from the federal government earmarked as part of a larger federal funding bill.
Oregon Hemp Research Center Gets $2.5M in Federal Funds
Scientist examining development of Cannabis sativa plant, close up of hand with protective gloves, selective focus
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Oregon State University’s Global Hemp Innovation Center is set to receive $2.5 million to help establish the center, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports. The research center at the university was launched in June; in October, it received a $1 million donation from Seth and Eric Crawford, OSU graduates and founders of Oregon CBD.
The federal funds were earmarked as part of a larger federal spending bill. Alan Sams, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU, said the center’s staff and faculty are “pleased” that the appropriation was approved and that it “shows the federal government’s confidence” in the work being performed by the center.
More than 40 OSU faculty representing 19 academic disciplines are engaged in hemp research, teaching, and extension services at the center and the university plans to coordinate that expertise and the various projects into the nation’s largest research center devoted to hemp.
According to the report, the funds from the Crawford brothers will be used to explore hemp genomics in an effort to better understand how hemp could be used in health and nutrition products, textiles, and construction materials.
Seth Crawford, a former OSU sociology professor, said at the time Oregon CBD’s donation was announced that “understanding genetics” is the key to unlocking the “tremendous amount of possibility” of hemp crops.
The center plans on publicly sharing its data and collaborating with other researchers and industry operators to study hemp, which was only re-legalized in the U.S. in 2018.
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