The cannabis industry is undergoing a major transformation because of the legalization of these products and the high demand for recreational and medical marijuana. For instance, statistics show the legal sale of recreational cannabis is estimated to hit $25 billion by 2025.
Consumers have also become more knowledgeable and demand superior quality cannabis products. In response, most cannabis growers are exploring new technologies to produce high-quality cannabis plants. Let’s dive in and find some emerging technologies transforming cannabis cultivation.
Tissue Culture
Tissue culture involves multiplying a single cannabis tissue to produce hundreds of identical cannabis plants. Cannabis tissue culture occurs under controlled aseptic environments. This technology helps cannabis growers get disease-free and high-yielding marijuana strains. Tissue culture propagation is the solution cannabis growers can employ to balance the need for consistent, quality, and high-yielding cannabis strains. This technology can help produce superior cannabis strains for medical marijuana.
LED Lighting
Lighting is a crucial factor for enhancing productivity in indoor cannabis-growing facilities. As a result, the cannabis industry is always looking for innovative, efficient, and affordable ways to keep grow rooms lit and plants growing faster. Modern technology in LED lighting is helping produce affordable, durable bulbs and fixtures that emit more light, customize light spectrums, and use less power to shorten growth cycles and increase yields. Some cannabis growers have moved a notch higher by embracing cloud-based internet of things (IoT) technology which enables them to control growing lights remotely to ensure consistency in the cannabis plant quality.
Robotics
Trimming cannabis plants can be daunting; in fact, it’s one of the most challenging jobs in growing cannabis. Thanks to automation and robotics, cannabis farmers can now sigh relief. Robotics is taking over the dangerous, dull, and repetitive tasks in cannabis growing, enabling humans to concentrate on more flexible jobs. Additionally, because fewer hands touch the cannabis plants, the risk for contamination is reduced. Cannabis growers can also reduce costs because they require less labor. For instance, one person can process 1 kg of cannabis per day while machines work on 50 Kg of cannabis per hour using only one operator.
Electricity Storage
Another technology that could transform the cannabis industry is electric storage. This innovative technology is courtesy of Telsa—the king of electric vehicles. Indoor cultivation of cannabis plants is pretty expensive due to the climate-controlled growing systems that require electricity to run. The demand for electricity leads to inflated electric bills. The good news is that Telsa’s Powerpack/ Powerwall solutions allow cannabis growers to store electricity and use it during extended power outages or peak hours when the cost per unit is higher. Electricity storage will save cannabis growers a significant amount of money, thus increasing their profits.
Bio-tech Breeding
Biotech breeding is a technology that allows genetic manipulation of cannabis plants to improve certain traits. This technology modifies the DNA in cannabis plants. The application of biotech breeding allows alteration of genetic material in cannabis plants to produce offspring with the desired traits such as disease resistance, pest resistance, or increased yields. For instance, we can use biotech breeding to create a cultivar with a rich taste or low Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content ideal for domestic use.
Automated Cannabis Cultivation
In recent years, customized apps have allowed cannabis growers to configure their practices to their soil texture, expected outcome, geographical locations, and climate. Automation is a game-changer in cannabis growing, and it enables farmers to achieve the best quality yields. IT companies are striving to enhance cannabis cultivation technology, so we expect more innovations in the coming years that will offer growers more control over the quality, growing conditions, and yields.
The cannabis industry is ever responsive to new technologies that help improve quality and yields. As MaxQ, we are ready to offer software solutions to improve your cannabis growing venture.
Contact us today for expert guidance and solutions.
