Microbial consortia for enhanced and sustainable cannabis production

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The research described in this proposal will produce critical knowledge relevant for the cannabis industry, allowing for the production of high-quality plant material with optimum cannabinoid concentrations. The project will address three knowledge gaps regarding the use of microbial inoculants in cannabis production: 1) how a commercial microbial inoculant, Miicrobial Mass, affects plant growth parameters, flower yield and cannabinoid concentrations; 2) how the application of Miicrobial Mass alters cannabinoid accumulation through changes at the proteomic level; and 3) determine how cannabis root colonization by microbial inoculants depends on the growing medium and production system. This research is important because cannabis producers must be able to grow consistent plant material while reducing the financial and environmental costs associated with synthetic fertilizer inputs. Outcomes of this project could be improved crop production methods for cannabis producers to increase the legal cannabis supply in Canada, making it important for cannabis producers, clinicians who prescribe medical cannabis and patients that use medical cannabis. Cannabis producers will benefit from improved yield and reduced production costs; clinicians will benefit from a wider range of consistent cannabis products that can be evaluated in clinical trials for treatment of a variety of medical conditions; patients will benefit from improved access to a range of high-quality cannabis-based pharmaceutical products. The anticipated outcomes of this project are: an improved understanding of how microbial inoculants interact with cannabis plants to improve growth, yield and/or cannabinoid accumulation. This knowledge will pave the way for the development of further microbial-based products for use in cannabis production systems that cultivate plants in pots and hydroponic systems. Miicrobial Mass and Ulysse Biotech, the industrial partners, will benefit through improved knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the effects of their microbial inoculant product. Canada will benefit by using this knowledge to position itself as a world leader in production of high-quality cannabis, increased tax revenues from cannabis sales.