Vancouver’s Xebra Brands Ltd. (CSE: XBRA) (OTCQB: XBRAF) has inked an agreement with a prestigious agricultural university in Mexico to cultivate and study cannabis.
The company announced the new agreement on Thursday which builds upon a research partnership established with Chapingo Autonomous University in March. It will focus on the commercial cultivation of hemp containing less than 1 per cent THC and the domestic development of new cultivars.
The partnership and new agreement are intended to help establish research and development protocols for legal cannabis production in the country. The project will be led by Roberto Rendón Medel, a professor from the University’s Center for Economic, Social and Technological Research on Agribusiness and World Agriculture.
Through the agreement, Xebra will be importing a wide variety of cannabis seeds into Mexico, helping to produce indoor and outdoor sativa cannabis crops with high concentrations of certain cannabinoids and a low THC concentration (managed by Chapingo), examining the biological life cycles of the plants and determining which cultivars are best suited for different areas of Mexico.
Intellectual property resulting from the partnership will be shared between the company and the institution. Flower, fibers and other organic materials resulting from the cultivation will belong solely to Xebra.
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Read more: Xebra gets permit from Mexican health authority COFEPRIS to grow and commercialize low-THC cannabis
Xebra received a permit to cultivate, process and commercialize cannabis with less than 1 per cent THC from Mexico’s Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risk (COFEPRIS) in March and now says it will be possible to propose a new model of technological and organizational innovation for the cultivation of outdoor hemp to the commission.
“I thank the General Directorate of Research and Graduate Studies for supervising the project with scientific rigor, as we explore the best possible growing environments for certain cultivars, which will help move this industry forward in Mexico,” said Medel.
Founded in 1854, Chapingo is Mexico’s oldest agricultural university and currently has approximately 11,200 students.
“We couldn’t be more excited to expand our relationship with Chapingo University, and expand our partnership with this commercial agreement to legally cultivate for the first time in Mexico with the best agricultural experts in the country,” said Rodrigo Gallardo Valencia, Xebra’s Director.
In Canada, Xebra distributes its Vicious Citrus lemonade beverage with 10 milligrams of THC and 2 milligrams of cannabinol (CBN).
The company’s shares rose by 8.94 per cent Thursday to US$0.058 on the OTC Markets. Xebra currently has approximately 196.5 million common outstanding shares.
rowan@mugglehead.com
