High Expectations, recreational and medical breeding/growing

[Norseman]

Ran across this article the other day and thought it might be of interest. It is quite long.

How seed companies are using standard and new breeding techniques to produce new cannabis varieties for both discerning recreational consumers and a growing number of new medical applications.

https://european-seed.com/2020/08/high-expectations/

[Chad.Westport]

But what was your opinion and take away from it?

[Norseman]

I did find it interesting to read about what these breeders are up to and what they are trying to achieve. Some do focus on CBG while others focus on CBD.
Also cool to read that Dutch Passion got their own seed vault which they have had for 40 years.
Also found it quite intriguing to see all these different kinds of cannabinoids where some were unfamiliar to me.

[Chad.Westport]

Good article It is interesting to see how companies are going after novel cannabinoids. Who knows, it may be the next miracle medicine, which translates to trillions of dollars. These minor cannabinoids are highly recessive which means more plants to look through, whether they be grown out or the tissue tested at an early age. Once they find it though, it's usually in such minimal amounts, they need to breed that cannabinoid into higher numbers and that takes time even with science. But any cannabinoid in bulk does great until it becomes common. The price for a kilo of CBD use to be tens of thousand of dollars. Not so much anymore. The medicinal chase of cannabinoids is fascinating to watch.

[Cave Hill Cole]

It certainly seems like they are focusing on the "weak links" of modern cannabis genetics for market production reasons:
1) - Stability is king, if you a production company you want your cultivars to by as stable as possible to reduce the risk of crop seeding.
2) Pest and mould resistance, you want o make sure as much of your crop as possible get across the line in once piece...when being grown in cheaper outdoor conditions.
3) Drought and disease resistance, again making a plant bullet proof so its market value is protected come harvest.
4) New variety development to find the next "new kid on the block cannaboid", as you pointed out Chad the next miracle drug

So yeah, its what I would do research wise if it was my company too. Bred plants that are homozygous as possible, resistance to pests and hard conditions so crop harvest numbers are as high as possible. But as growers we win out of this too. We get cultivars that dont get PM and bud rot at the drop of a hat.