With more and more licences being granted for New Zealand companies to grow and sell medicinal cannabis, could we be looking at an abundance of medical cannabis cultivars being grown under strict regulation and nonmedical cannabis also known as Hemp taking over the Canterbury Plains?
Of course, there is nothing new about the plant itself, but there is limited knowledge about the genetic variation of crops and why two regulatory regimes around cannabis plant as medicinal cannabis and Hemp. Focused research and trials are required to understand more about this fascinating plant and create a standardisation which is a major requirement and current stumbling block for medicinal cannabis reaching the market.
With a massive increase in the interest and growing of hemp and hemp products over the last couple of years, can we draw conclusions about the crop that can be translated to the cultivation of medicinal cannabis? What could this mean for this industry and for the opinion of consumers?
Join us to hear from the industry professionals leading the way in the cultivation of this plant on what they think the future of medicinal cannabis may look like.
Timings:
8.45am : Networking
9.00am : Welcome & introduction
9.10am : Keynote address 1 – Peter Brorens, AgResearch
Outline the similarities and differences between the hemp and medical cannabis crops. How do you see the future of hemp / medical cannabis cultivation in NZ? How can this provide further opportunities for our farmers?
9.30am : Keynote address 2 – Brothers Green, Brad Lake
Draw connections between the cultivation of hemp and medical cannabis. What could this mean for this industry and for the opinion of consumers? How do you see the future of hemp / marijuana cultivation in NZ? What are the current opportunities and what is being used overseas? Do you know of any technologies in R&D that have the potential to transform the future of this space?
9.50am : Keynote address 3 –Greenlab – Parmjit Randhawa
Share the work you are doing to understand the cultivation of medicinal cannabis. What problems are you facing? How can farmers, growers, knowledge, research, science, and Government all come together to help establish efficient ways of working and moving forward. What will it take to create these collaborations? What work is already underway?
10.10am : Panel discussion/Interactive Q&A session with audience
10.30am : Speaking finishes, networking
11.00am : Event finishes
Our Speakers
Dr Parmjit Randhawa, Greenlab
Parmjit Randhawa holds a PhD in Soil Science from Lincoln University, New Zealand. He is a leading researcher and advocate of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp industry in Australia and New Zealand. Parmjit is also a Team leader on Hemp Agronomic Research in iHemp Victoria, Australia. His research interest is to develop open field Hemp crop into Food, Fibre and Medicine
Brad Lake, Brothers Green
A former rural banker who worked with farmers in various farming systems throughout North Canterbury, Brad saw a need for a sustainable cropping and protein option which would offer diversity in markets and meet changing consumer demands.
Hemp offered not only a sustainable cropping option but also the benefit of regenerating our soils and waterways underneath this crop.
This is when Brad met Brendon, and together they agreed that there was a real need for a clean, organic, raw protein powder in the NZ market. With Brendon’s understanding of the intrinsic health benefits of hemp, and Brad’s understanding of hemp’s positive impact on the environment - the answer was clear - and the answer was hemp protein. From here, Beefy Green Protein (a clean, raw, plant based protein powder) was born and this would mark the first step in what was to later become, The Brothers Green.
Peter Brorens, AgResearch
Peter is an experienced textile and fibre scientist. He began his career at the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ) more than 30 years ago focusing on wool fibre processing and yarn structures. In 2004 to 2013 he studied New Zealand flax (Harakeke) and its potential in composite materials while working with the Biopolymer Network which was a collaboration between three of NZ Crown Research institutes, AgResearch, Scion and Plant & Food Research
Based at the Lincoln campus of AgResearch near Christchurch Peter has been following the development of the industrial hemp industry in Canterbury and NZ since the first growing trials back in the early 2000s.
He has an obvious interest in the fibre side of the hemp industry but in recent times has been looking at the industry as a whole and is current working with Callaghan Innovation and others to write a white paper around whole plant utilisation for hemp. This looks at the opportunities for both the medical and the industrial hemp industries to gain full value from this multi-use plant.
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