b'With New Cultivars, Industry Trailblazers are Creating Cannabis 3.0The seed industry has opened the door to a new era. Marc ZienkiewiczFOR JAN SLASKI,April 19, 2021, will forever be the day that changed the hemp industry in Canada for the better.It was that day Health Canada released its updated list of approved hemp cultivars, and the new additions are significant.Its a game changer. For years farmers have been able to grow hemp for food and cosmetics and fiber, but these other opportunities have been missing. Its really the dawn of a new era for us, says Slaski, princi-pal researcher at InnoTech Alberta.That other opportunity, of course, is cannabidiol (CBD) production.For nearly 20 years, Slaski has been leading research aimed at introduction and breeding of hemp varieties that suit the needs of the fiber and food industries on the Prairies. Now, his breeding program is able to work in a space that holds much promise for breeders, growers, seed companies, patients, recrea-tional cannabis users and more.The CBD market is exploding in Canada. A 2020 report conducted by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa estimated the CBD market in Canada at $1.9 billion.Hemp plants, which are a different strain of can-nabis, can produce CBD without a high THC content. Cannabis containing 0.3% or less of THC is considered hemp in Canada.Now, the Canadian hemp industry has access toSpecializing in hemp variety testing and com- Arcadia and varieties that produce as much as 14% CBD, manymercialization of industrial hemp varieties, Tritium 3HTritium 3H are times higher than the varieties they previously had toannounced an exclusive three-year license agree- expanding their work with, which were in the 2% range. ment with Colorado-based CW Hemp Supply Co., atesting and This is extremely important because now, finally,division of American CBD product brand Charlottestrialing we can fully take advantage of what is a multipurposeWeb. The brand made headlines in 2013 when newsprogram, crop, Slaski says. network CNN profiled Charlotte Figi, who in 2006 waslooking at yield, only months old when she was diagnosed with Dravetplanting rates Cannabinoid Craze Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that starts in infancy. and agronomy, Since the new Health Canada list was issued on AprilBy the time she was five, she was having 300 sei- all designed to 19, Alberta-based Tritium 3H announced two majorzures a day. Her parents tried a CBD product manufac- help growers. deals that will allow them to bring significant new CBDtured by Colorado hemp growers the Stanley brothersPHOTO: ARCADIA BIOSCIENCESgenetics to the Canadian market.who would go on to found Charlottes Weband 30/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2021'