2007 Programs and Events
U.S. Promotes Eco-Friendly Alternative Crop for Greek Tobacco Farmers
On October 17, a Greek-U.S. public-private partnership (PPP) in Thessaloniki held a press conference to announce the initial results of a one-year study on the cultivation and commercial exploitation of an alternative crop called “kenaf” that can be used to produce a wide range of eco-friendly products ranging from paper to car parts. The PPP was established in 2006 by the ConGen Thessaloniki and includes the American Farm School of Thessaloniki, the Association of Northern Greek Exporters, the Macedonia Paper Mill (Greece’s largest paper products company), the Confederation of Greek Farm Unions, the Greek government’s Center for Renewable Energy Sources and American Genetics Seed Company. The study, funded in part by a State Department Business Facilitation Grant, included an experimental planting of kenaf at the American Farm School and collaboration with Vision Paper, a New Mexico-based company that makes paper from kenaf. The PPP announced its intention to pursue kenaf as a business opportunity for Greek manufacturers and farmers, whose government subsidies for growing tobacco and other traditional crops are being phased out. As a next step, the group will commission a commercial feasibility study on the production of paper and other products from kenaf in northern Greece.