The country's largest medicinal cannabis grower is about to harvest its biggest crop, and is working with iwi on plans to increase its production in Kaikōura. Puro New Zealand has been growing medicinal cannabis since 2018 and has two facilities in Marlborough, one in the Waihopai Valley and another at Kekerengu on the Kaikōura Coast.
Co-founder and chief development officer Tom Forrest said staff were about a month away from harvesting around 65,000 plants from across 15 hectares, which would produce around 100 tonnes of material that would be dried or formulated into oils for medicinal use. He said while cannabis could be grown almost anywhere, Marlborough was chosen because its environment was ideally suited to growing a high grade product.
© Puro
"[Cannabis] has a genetic plasticity that allows it to grow from the mountains of the Himalayas to deserts to tropical islands but not all of those places grow [plants] in a way that is suitable for high quality medicine."
He said the Kekerengu farm was special because it had an optimal soil profile, the right aspect, gradient and the elevation from sea level along with protection from the mountains.
Read more at RNZ
