SEATTLE — Panacea Plant Sciences, agricultural cannabis consultants and creators of a patent pending terpene and cannabinoid enhancing formula, have announced a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo to raise funds for an Open Data cannabis agricultural test site in Washington.
Panacea Plant Sciences’ project will look at the nutrient density of food products and phytochemicals in medical cannabis. They have developed a fertilizer formulated to increase nutritional values of food and cannabis. They’ve partnered with researchers and farms in California, Washington and other states to do test grows on fruits, vegetables, medical cannabis and more. Allison Justice, a Ph.D. in plant science, for example has been reviewing some of our research designs and doing tests on some product formulations. Analytical 360, a Washington State cannabis testing laboratory, will be providing analytical services and has endorsed the project.
The research site’s first experiment will measure the impacts of fertilizers and pesticides on these phytochemicals in plants, but Panacea Plant Sciences’ CEO David Heldreth said the company expects to open the facility to university students and scientists for research and projects once the site is completed.
“While our short term goal here is to measure a few factors of plant growth and nutrients, the vision is to create an open data, public space that can house cannabis research,” Heldreth said. “Right now universities are limited by federal law and the money they get from the federal government. It’s keeping our students from being exposed to the fastest growing industry in the world and reducing innovation. We hope to change that.”
Data will be collected on soil and air temperature, moisture content, wind, nutrient levels and other factors via an automated system being supplied by Urban-Gro, an innovative commercial cannabis company trying to bring data into cultivation. Their sensors and remote access systems will allow precise control and monitoring of the trials. All of this data will be available to the public to further our goal of an open cannabis movement.
The project will incorporate the public in the science by asking home gardeners or cannabis farmers who fund the project to submit their plants to testing. Panacea Plant Sciences will provide fertilizer, phytochemical analysis services and incorporate the data from their supporters as one of the rewards for helping fund the site.
“We think it will help a lot of farmers or even hobbyists to take a look at the nutrient density in the food and cannabis they grow,” Heldreth said. “While cannabis science and labs are on the rise, many producers and especially those who grow for themselves have never had their cannabis tested.”
