Designing and building a commercial cultivation facility can be a long and stressful experience. Between obtaining financing, adhering to state and local regulations, finding the ideal real estate and picking a suitable team, the process can feel overwhelming.
Biosecurity is quickly becoming one of the most important topics in the cannabis industry. Testing standards are getting stricter and rates of tainted crops are sky rocketing, causing supply shortages and significant financial blows to cultivators all over the continent. Crops with mold or fungus can be deadly to consumers—especially those with lower immune systems, like many medical users. The alternative for many cultivators is to use chemicals like pesticides and fungicides to combat mold but unfortunately, these still pose a threat to consumers, placing cultivators in a catch-22 situation. Should you risk mold and fungus by avoiding chemicals? Or should you introduce potentially harmful chemicals to your plants to ensure against mold and fungus? Neither is a good option. Not only do these options put consumers at risk but, with increased regulation, they also put cultivators at risk of losing significant profits from having to dispose of sub-par harvests.
Protecting the biosecurity of a facility involves a variety of best practices. Instead of explaining what we think is the best way to ensure healthy plants through biosecurity, we’d like to share what some of our clients and partners think.
In many states, medical cannabis programs are the only way to legally acquire cannabis. In these states, the end customers are patients looking for relief from their suffering. They have turned to cannabis for a variety of reasons, but they can probably all agree that they expect a high-quality product that is all-natural, and free of impurities such as mold, bacteria, and pesticides. After all, conventional pharmaceuticals are produced under strict clean room conditions, leaving little doubt regarding the quality of the medicine received. Cannabis should be no different. In order to protect patients, and meet a growing demand, quality control needs to be a top concern for growers, investors, and the end user.