MEDICINAL Farming

 

The cultivation of medicinal plants worldwide is growing exponentially and, in the European Union, although it is slower, more and more countries are joining where laws are made in favor of the cultivation, export / import and consumption for patients or consumers recreational.

In Spain, there are still quite restrictive laws but every year licenses are granted to companies that guarantee professional and specialized cultivation, especially focused on the pharmaceutical sector, but its sale in the interior of the country is still prohibited, so licenses that are granted are for scientific research or cultivation and export to third countries, not for the domestic market.

For these countries to accept the product, the producer has to have at least three quality licenses, which are:

  • GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)
  • GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practices)
  • GDP (Good Distribution Practices)

By having a very high standard in medical crops, producers have to produce in controlled environments, preferably inside buildings or controlled and hermetic greenhouses, to reduce the risks of possible pests (therefore application of pesticides / herbicides), control of temperature / humidity and light control, which is often a problem in certain seasons of the year where there is little or no light and the ambient temperature does not allow growth or flowering, so they look for technological solutions that give high PAR radiation with the minimum consumption, which is why LED technology is more and more popular within these crops.

Advantages of LED technology for medicinal / pharmaceutical crops in a controlled environment

We can stand out:

  • High performance PAR (umol / J) per Watt.
  • 40-30% less energy consumption compared to HID / HPS (600W LED = 1000W HPS).
  • Electronically programmable luminaires.
  • They do not contain polluting products (mercury, gases …)
  • They do not have a risk of explosion, so they remove the risk of contaminating the crop (projection of dangerous substances, bulb glass and metal remains).
  • They do not need preheating, instant ON / OFF.
  • Versatile and robust products.
  • They produce 70% less heat than HPS / HID, thus saving on consumption of air conditioning equipment.
  • 100% of the light produced is used by the crop.
  • The spectra can be fixed or programmable depending on the luminaire model and brand.
  • Increased production of cannabinoids, flavonoids, terpenoids.
  • Higher gr/w production.
  • Special treatments such as EOD/EON or adding UV/FR can be programmed to increase the production of secondary metabolites.
Greenhouses&Indoor farming
Vertical & Indoor farming