The on-going green rush with cannabis tends to overshadow other crops that have both high economic and social value. So kudos to Leigh for writing this post to highlight other options for growers looking for ways to increase revenue & profit in their operations.
A summary of the options per Leigh Coulter’s blog:
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Medicinal plants - for example motherwort, spilanthes, calendula, German chamomile, echinacea, and of course, cannabis
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Biosimilar plant production - “…infusing plants with a virus shows great potential for producing vaccines. Typically a strain of tobacco plant is genetically modified instead of using animal protein.” There were stories of companies doing this to produce vaccines for the Ebola virus.
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Local food & hydroponics movements - “…premium quality food for the health conscious consumer.” Whole Foods is a great example of corporations getting into this movement.
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Ethnic/unique foods - for example, edible flowers or some Asian vegetables. Here’s a list from What’s Cooking America to give some inspiration
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Aquiculture (fish + plants) - “In North America greenhouse aquiculture typically raise tilapia, or arctic char in combination with a water plant like seaweed. In recent years greenhouse farmed aquiculture crops have also included shrimp, and increasing market demand for seafood could see opportunities for other aquiculture farming.”
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Biofuel/algae - Like what’s happening in Lund, Sweden withThe Warm & Clean City project that Heliospectra is a part of.
