After 40 years of tomatoes, flowers and houseplants, Han Duijndam wanted something new. In Neumünster, he found a challenge in Germany's first legal cannabis plant. There, the chief grower wants to harvest the first cannabis for medicinal purposes at the end of the year.
Han Duijndam never tried cannabis himself. "I don't have to like tomatoes to grow the best tomatoes in the world," says the Dutchman. He has to deal with cannabis every day. Duijndam manages plant breeding in Germany's first legal cannabis production facility in Neumünster. Medical cannabis is to be harvested there this year - for the first time in Germany.
Cannabis cultivation in Neumünster: Strict security measures
The Aphria RX plant has 1600 square meters of acreage. "It's always summer here," says Duijndam. The security measures are enormous. Everyone who has contact with the plants works in protective clothing and has to go through airlocks. In order not to carry possible infections from one of the eight chambers, each measuring 165 square meters, to the next, the chief grower changes clothes 16 times a day.
The plants go through a rapid cycle behind thick reinforced concrete walls. They never see natural sunlight, instead LED lamps simulate sunrises and sunsets. The artificial sun shines up to 18 hours a day, the temperature is 27, 28 degrees Celsius. Two combined heat and power plants, each with 1,000 megawatts, provide energy.
"The most modern indoor plantation in the world"
Aphria managing director Hendrik Knopp speaks of the most modern and safest indoor plantation in the world. The investment volume for the 12,000 square meter plantation is in the double-digit million range. The company plans to grow a good tonne a year. "Up to 4.7 harvests per year are possible," says plant manager Thorsten Kolisch.
Since 2017, patients have been able to have cannabis prescribed by a doctor for medical purposes on a regular basis. So far, Germany imports cannabis flowers. That is why the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has allowed two other companies to grow them domestically.
Cannabis plantation: 50 employees by the end of the year
The security requirements are immense. 14,000 tons of reinforced concrete were used. The outer walls are 24 centimeters thick. Detectors and sensors register when someone approaches. The four-eyes principle applies inside. By the end of the year, 50 employees are said to have found a job.
According to Duijndam, suitable framework conditions for the rapid growth of plants are not as difficult as their proper nutrition. Besides him, only two other employees know the recipes for the nutrient solutions. "Every phase of growth has its special growth needs," says the 61-year-old. He has almost 40 years of professional experience. "I played in the greenhouse as a child and I have green fingers."
Years of experience in plant breeding
In 1984 Duijndam started his own greenhouse with his wife in the Netherlands, growing flowers and plants in them. “We sold the business in 2010.” He then worked for years for a company in Iran, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Russia to teach plant breeding there. Finally, he looked for a job closer to home and ended up in the north. "At first I thought: Oops! Cannabis. Really?"
The challenge of growing medical cannabis with a consistently high THC content appeals to him, says Duijndam. His wife was initially not happy with the job. "Her eyes grew wide." She initially connected this to the underground. When she found out that it was medical cannabis, she was relieved. “My daughter works in palliative care. She is really curious and wants to see the factory when production is on. ”
Cannabis: The first seedlings are planted in autumn
It will take a few weeks until then. From the outside, the building looks more like a warehouse than a state-of-the-art cannabis plantation. The first seedlings are expected to be planted in autumn. They are imported from the Canadian parent company. It not only grows three different varieties as planned in Neumünster, but far more than two dozen.
"It's the most interesting job I've ever had," says Duijndam. The aim is also to get at least part of the business out of the underground. "The advantage of medical cannabis is that users know exactly how much cannabidiol (CBD) is contained in it." The active ingredients CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) should be constant for the goods from the north and should not vary as much as for illegal products in street sales.
The cost of cannabis in the pharmacy
In the pharmacy, the gram currently costs more than 20 euros. According to the Chamber of Pharmacists, almost 700 patients receive this regularly in the Schleswig-Holstein region alone. But there are often delivery problems. The latter is said to change as a result of the plant in Neumünster.
Source: mopo.de