Having cannabis compliment the food you eat is a well-established phenomenon, but what about having your food help to grow the cannabis itself?
While the concept may sound hard to swallow, that’s exactly what one British Columbia aquaponics producer is doing.
Habitat Craft Cannabis Ltd. said Thursday it had received its organic aquaculture standard certification from the Canadian General Standards Board for both cannabis and coho salmon.
The Canadian General Standards Board is an organization of the federal government that develops standards and assessment measures for the economic, health, safety and environmental interests of Canadians.
The company says it expects its first harvest of coho salmon in June 2020. All images courtesy of Habitat
All products grown at Habitat’s aquaponics facility, namely salmon and weed, will now be certified organic.
Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponic technologies.
In this symbiotic fusion, aquatic animals are grown in tanks, and their excrement — which would otherwise sit in the tanks and increase toxicity — is fed to a hydroponic system where the by-products are broken down into nutrients and directly absorbed by the roots of plants. Lastly, the cleansed water recirculates back to the animals.
This is the first certification of its kind to be awarded to a cannabis company and represents an important milestone for the aquaponic cannabis cultivation industry, the company said in a press release.
Read more: Rubicon Organics signs new distribution deal for premium weed, acquires new genetics
Habitat aquaculture director Justin Henry said the certification gives consumers assurance that the products are grown without harmful inputs such as synthetic pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics and hormones.
Nitrates from filtered fish waste are fed hydroponically to the roots of plants. Habitat’s unique cultivation method is the first of its kind to receive organic certification from a federal regulator
“The goal of organic production is to develop operations that are sustainable and are based on living ecological systems. Habitat is the quintessential example of that,” he said.
Habitat says it’s transforming traditional cannabis cultivation with an innovative approach to vertical growing and aquaponics that’s both environmentally sustainable and great for growing quality weed.
Habitat says its Cake and aptly named Caviar strains will hit shelves by March 2020
The company has planted its first commercial crop and says its products should be on shelves as early as March 2020. The initial harvest will feature two proprietary strains called Cake and Caviar.
“As long-time cultivators, we are excited to announce the official commencement of commercial cannabis operations at our facility in Chase, B.C.,” CEO Rudi Schiebel said in the release.
“In addition to now being certified organic, our team has spent years procuring and breeding proprietary genetics and we collectively believe that these first two strains that we are introducing will be well received by consumers.”
Habitat is a wholly owned subsidiary of Habitat Life Sciences Inc.
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