There are three core commitments that cultivators, their partners and the entire industry must make to drive innovation and growth in the industry,
1. Commit to research
Given the increasing need to understand the vast complexity of the cannabis plant, research partnerships are popping up across the globe to tackle the admittedly large task of studying the cultivation, efficacy and effects of cannabis.
Creating terpenes, carotenoids, flavonoids and many other active compounds is dependent on light spectra, intensity, genetics and other factors.
The THC, CBD and the dozens of other active compounds (the plant has at least 400) – hold so much potential for groundbreaking genetic and horticultural research on which the industry can capitalize.
2. Commit to standardizing strains and cultivation methods
There are many best practices and methods from food cultivation that can be applied to cannabis, but a methodology that stands out is the lack of a universally agreed-upon manual of cannabis strains.
Industrywide consensus on strain classifications and standardized cultivation methods helps customers, especially industry-specific customers (dispensaries, purveyors etc ) have better conversations about product development. Marketwide standardization is a critical threshold to cross in tandem with ongoing research.
3. Commit to advancing technology
Creating a consistently high-quality product year-round that customers can continuously return to is the industry’s gold standard.
The cultivators that can implement the right technology to control climatic and other conditions at the micro level and build a suite of products on which dispensaries can rely becomes the best value proposition that can be marketed to the end user. This requires a level of detail across every phase of cannabis cultivation operations that lacks standardization.
As the industry turns its focus to refining and perfecting these business practices, it’s equally crucial that they have the right technology – proper lighting systems, humidity control and testing machines – at their fingertips to deliver the consistent, quality products customers are beginning to expect.
.By committing to in-depth research, industrywide standardization and the implementation of cutting-edge horticulture technology, cultivators will serve as the catalysts for industry maturation and innovation, ultimately shaping how consumers experience cannabis now and into the future.