Advanced Irrigation Technologies for Sustainable Water Resource Management Strategies in Precision Cultivation of Cannabis

Efficiency of irrigation practices will become increasingly critical to both economic performance for agricultural businesses and environmental sustainability. Precision irrigation allows for reductions in resource consumption and waste products released to the environment as well as bolsters the ability for a crop-producing business to maintain consistent-market-quality production at the lowest possible cost. The efficacy or precision irrigation at producing biomass is best analyzed using the concept of water-use efficiency, which measures the amount of biomass produced per amount of water used. The use of sensor technology has the potential to create zero-runoff irrigation practices while simultaneously guiding the maintenance of optimal substrate water content for any crop. This collaboration between InnoKore Solutions and McGill University will comprise controlled studies on precision irrigation practices using tensiometers. These studies will explore the variability in rootzone water availability in globally-relevant commercial production substrates and use those data to optimize biomass production and quality of medical-grade cannabis, while simultaneously reducing water and fertilizer use by reducing wastewater production.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mark Lefsrud

Student:

Partner:

Innokore Solutions

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McGill University

Program: