The horticultural industry has been assigned a new mission: that of guiding the 'newly-born' cannabis industry. “Horticulture is an old industry, we have been growing in greenhouses for hundreds of years, especially in the Netherlands. The quantity of knowledge we have nowadays is impressive, yet we were ‘never’ able to grow cannabis”, says Ed Smit, director of Jungle Talks, a company whose mission is to connect the world of horticulture. As a response to this ‘call’, Jungle Talks is organizing a course that will be held from 2nd to 14th June in the Netherlands. The goal of the Mastercourse is exactly to connect these not-so-distant worlds, bringing together in one single place some of the main actors of this novel industry.
Times are ripe
Even though the union of cannabis and horticulture sounds like a perfect marriage, for a long time the illegality of this plant prevented horticulture from improving in a more direct and concrete way the management and growth of such a crop. “Cannabis has been a ‘forbidden plant’ for a very long time. Prohibitionist or restrictive regulations slowed down advancements in this subsector of horticulture. Therefore, cannabis has usually been grown in cellars, basements, and so forth. In other words, only in small-scale, mildly professional conditions.”, Ed explains. “Growing in a greenhouse is a completely different story. Even if one is extremely knowledgeable of plant physiology, it does not necessarily mean that he or she will be a good grower for a large-scale greenhouse. There are a lot of people who have an extensive knowledge on cannabis, yet they would not know how to manage a greenhouse. I always compare greenhouses to cars: if the driver is not good, then the car cannot be driven properly. And if one sensor is missing, the car will not work at all.”
A group from a previous edition of the Mastercourse
However, things have been changing, recently, as an increasing number of countries has been approving regulatory policies, thus allowing this industry to emerge into the light. “With the recent approval of many legalizing regulations, the obvious consequence was that the cannabis industry started to look at horticulture in order to convert small-scale operations to large-scale businesses.”, Ed observes, “There is a widespread need of coming up with solutions that are suited precisely for this crop. Horticulture will provide the answers. Times are ripe and we should try to get these two not-so-distant worlds closer to each other. This is precisely what our Mastercourse in June will be about.”
Between cannabis and horticulture
Jungle Talks is a company that organizes masterclasses, digital courses, and interviews with horticultural companies. “Cannabis is considered as a completely new subsector of horticulture, nowadays. Companies jumped into the market individually, without forming any kind of collective. Through our Mastercourses, we want to bring these different realities in just one place, thus providing this world with a meeting place where it is possible to learn, share, and network.”, Ed explains.
The Pro Manager Mastercourse Medicinal Cannabis will be held in the Netherlands from 2nd to 14th June. Through a selection procedure, Jungle Talks will choose 15 participants among the candidates, “Currently, we are in the middle of the selection procedure. Participants should come from the medical cannabis world and should be part of a board of directors, or anyway they should be decision makers. Further, they should preferably be between 25-40 years old. Also head growers who will be part of a board are most welcome”, Ed points out. This slightly ‘strict’ selection procedure is necessary because, “We want a homogeneous group of people. We want our participants to be able to actively participate in the classes and seminars”, Ed explains “Even though two weeks sound like a long time, it is the only way to develop a group dynamic which facilitates both networking and the sharing of knowledge. All participants we had so far to previous Mastercourses have confirmed that, although two-weeks is a long time, it really is necessary to do it like that”
A group from a previous edition of the Mastercourse
Connecting people around the world
Sharing, networking, connecting: these are the things that Jungle Talks cares about most, “People come from each corner of the world to take part in our courses. Therefore, while being homogeneous, we always have very diverse groups, and this is very important to us. Our main goal is exactly to connect all these different people and expertise to each other, in order to create an actual community that would shed light on the best practices for cannabis crops.”, Ed highlights. “That is why we can put in contact former participants with current attendees, wherever they are located. What characterizes our participants is their willingness to share their experience. And last but not least, each company to be visited in The Netherlands will be visited on a Board of Directors level”
If you are interested in participating in this Mastercourse, you can fill out the registration form until and including 22nd March. You can also check the leaflet here.
For more information:
Jungle Talks
+506 22730981
+506 88418125
ed@jungletalks.com
www.jungletalks.com