Cannabis belongs to a genus known as Cannabis from a family of flowering plants, Cannabaecae. Cannabis has had medicinal purposes following its application in cancer treatment, epilepsy, appetite loss, among other terminal ailments. Cannabis growth requires specific conditions, beginning from the soil, which should have sufficient nutrients for its growth and a pH range of 5.8 to 6.5 (Hurgobin et al., 2021). The temperatures should range between 24° C to 30° C; if it exceeds 31° C, Cannabis wilt.
The plant should remain under either artificial or natural light for 16-24 hours (Hurgobin et al., 2021). Cannabis should be watered regularly and in consideration of light. The ideal humidity for optimal growth should be between 40-60% RH (Hurgobin et al., 2021). Only a few places can have all of the above conditions conducive to the growth of Cannabis. Thus, technological intervention ensures that the conditions are not relying on nature. Over the years, different innovation has been made to facilitate the growth of Cannabis. This study seeks to explore various technological applications in cannabis cultivation.
Technological advancement plays a crucial role in ensuring that the growth of Cannabis is not affected by natural environment. The physical environment keeps changing depending on factors such as weather changes, humidity, and temperature. Fluctuating conditions limit the production of Cannabis. The demand for Cannabis has grown in the most developed countries due to legalization of the cultivation and processing of Cannabis. Setting and tracking of each plant in the field, data analytics about Cannabis are achieved through technology
The technological innovation examines state of the art in cannabis cultivation technology. The technology is used in the modern-day for tracking every plant and proposing new solutions. The methods have already been implemented to tackle the challenges in cannabis cultivation. The technological solutions help in creating efficiencies of growing Cannabis. Using an examining technology maximizes the production of Cannabis. Several methods of advanced technology in cannabis growing have been applied. In most places, especially in developed countries, different technological approaches have been involved in growing Cannabis. Such methods include using greenhouses, indoor grow technology and application of vertical farm technology.
The Greenhouse Technology
The use of greenhouse provides a sustainable output of Cannabis, and this is applied in the US and Canada, where greenhouses occupy up to 40-acres of land. The greenhouse helps to control the physical environment of the plants; it has mitigated the smell of Cannabis growing, according to the ordinance of the area. Greenhouse technology ensures that sunlight will not burn the plants due to changing intensity (Hurgobin et al., 2021). Greenhouses are fitted with retractable energy saving, which offers a shade curtain, a heat regulator inside the greenhouse. Again, the greenhouse uses biomass to power the heating units, and the installation of hot water radiant floors ensures the area zone of heating has been controlled, thus helping in the continuous production of cannabis.
The Indoor Grow Technology
The use of indoor growing technology has helped in fostering cannabis production. After Cannabis has been legalized in Colorado, adults have been using Cannabis since the year 2014 (Hurgobin et al., 2021). The enormous consumption of Cannabis around Colorado has resulted in a warehouse in places like Denver. Most of the cities in Colorado were required to grow Cannabis. Growers who practiced outdoor growth and small indoor growth became brilliant building designers, thus evolving the indoor concept. Indoor cannabis cultivation has four significant issues that are required to handle; pest mitigation, HVAC, lighting, and contamination (Hurgobin et al., 2021). A few challenges in indoor grow technology have led to the production of substantial Cannabis that can sustain the consumption rate in Colorado.
Use of Application in Rescuing Plants
The use of seed-to-sale tracking is required in controlling the compliance of the Cannabis growth. Technology ensures that every seed for planting can be traced to avoid potential diversion from the black market. The software has been developed to ensure that they automate Cannabis for data entry compliance to the seed-to-sale platform for seed track. GeoShepard project uses an offline mode, where users can use their phones out in the field without Wi-Fi access. Research has been conducted to come up with more analytic software. The software has been built to help the growers to understand the statistics of the business. The software helps in calculating, estimating the production quantity and CSI for Cannabis. The seed-to-sale application has made work easier for both the farmers and the entire cannabis industry.
The Use of a Vertical Farm
Vertical farming is the newest technological innovation in cannabis farming. The method involves growing the plants vertically. The plants are so tiny to grow in a non-traditional farm location. The vertical farm is a plant wall inside a tight gas envelope, eliminating contamination and pest issues as plants face each other. The configuration of this method allows for a dense canopy and the use of a LED light to mimicking morning, noon, and evening light, and they are software controlled.
The sites in Quebec are in rooms that are 25 feet in height (Hurgobin et al., 2021). However, Growex is planning to go higher than that by eliminating interaction based on the human arm by replacing them with a robotic arm to pick up row plants and then bring the raw down for a particular person to work. The use of vertical farming has made cannabis farming easier to control diseases and pests.
In conclusion, cannabis technological advancement has made a significant milestone in ensuring that the production of Cannabis has been effective and efficient. Population growth has created the demand for cannabis production increase. The natural methods of growing Cannabis could not bring the necessary output to cope up with the growing demand. Opting for technological measures to grow Cannabis will be the best measure. Technological methods for producing Cannabis include greenhouses, indoor farming, and the use of a vertical farm.
Reference
Hurgobin, B., Tamiru‐Oli, M., Welling, M. T., Doblin, M. S., Bacic, A., Whelan, J., & Lewsey, M. G. (2021). Recent advances in Cannabis sativa genomics research. New Phytologist, 230(1), 73-89.