Increasing Yields & Reducing Risks
By: Nathan T. Johnson, Ph.D.
Every plant grower is wanting to maximize their yields whether it is based on the highest % cannabinoid such as THC, increasing the richness of the flavor of the bud or flower through terpenes, or increasing the size of the plant such as for biomass. But what are the strategies on how to increase plant yields? There are many different perspectives on the best way whether it’s the DNA or genetics of the plant, the nutrients the plant consumes, or optimizing the right lights. However, there is another strategy not commonly discussed primarily due to the newness of the Cannabis market, but commonly employed in other agricultural fields: Genetic & Pest Testing.
What is meant by: Genetic & Pest Testing? Life is a jungle where it is a who eats who and who does that best. This can be illustrated by a cheetah chasing a gazelle on the plains of Africa, a virus infecting a cell in your body, fungus decomposing a log in a local forest or a pine tree in the Rocky Mountains. Every one of these scenarios highlights an organism living by consuming nutrients from another source and doing it better than its competitors. For the Cannabis market, Genetic & Pest Testing gives you as the grower that competitive edge to produce better quality plants.
So what is Genetic & Pest Test? Concisely summarized, it is the regular practice of identifying what your plant can produce and identifying any pests or pathogens that can interfere with your plant achieving its maximum yield. Without a testing program, you are running the risk of being outcompeted and potentially losing more than 40% of your plant yields.
Why does Genetic & Pest testing work? Every living organism on planet Earth is made up of nucleic acids such as DNA or RNA, which are the blueprints for what the organism is.
Want your plant to make THC? Want THC, but not CBD? Want to produce CBG? Want only female, but not male plants? There is an address on your plant’s DNA that allows that to happen. Confused about why your plant looks sick? There is an address on pathogens or infectious agents DNA or RNA that are trying to limit your plant's potential for their own gain. All of these can be detected with the appropriate tools and expertise. It is not magic, it is science as there is cause and effect on how life works.
Over the course of the next month, we will be publishing articles on understanding how to best use Genetic and Pathogen testing for your growing needs, what type of testing is available across the market, and what decisions need to be considered. Reach out to us at info@vernebioanalytics.com
About the author:
Nathan T. Johnson, Ph.D. is the CEO & Co-Founder of Verne Bioanalytics. He has a hybrid of microbiology, molecular biology, and bioinformatics expertise across 15 years for food testing, oncology, immunology, stem cell biology, animal model development, and plant-related efforts. He has published peer-review scientific papers including in prestigious journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science, and held positions such as Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Takeda, H3 Biomedicine, and Mouse and Rat Resource Centers. He holds a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, MS in Biomedical Sciences, and a BS in biology and minor in chemistry.
Interested in Learning More?
Reach out to info@vernebioanalytics.com
About the Company:
Verne Bioanalytics is supporting your plant's growth potential through genetic and pathogen testing. We provide in-house lab testing for your plants (WE-Test), support for other labs to run our testing process, and an easy-to-use, fast, administered with your own hands, high-quality plant genetic or pathogen testing kit: i-Test. Verne’s goal is to help the world’s smallest to the largest farmers with their risk, productivity, and bottom line.