Australian Study: Far-Red Light Use May Increase Cannabis Yields
Cannabis cultivation has become more sophisticated in recent years due to various factors. One major factor is advancements in cultivation technology, including climate control, lighting, and feeding technology, to name a few areas.
Another contributing factor is sheer necessity born out of modern cultivation and harvest policies and regulations. Many jurisdictions around the world require cannabis to be cultivated outside of public view, and in some cases, in locked indoor facilities.
Several jurisdictions, particularly European markets, have end-product standards that make outdoor cultivation difficult from a product compliance standpoint. Cannabis products to be sold in regulated European markets must be GMP compliant, and that is a hard threshold to meet when the raw cannabis inputs for products are cultivated completely outdoors.
A team of researchers affiliated with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Southern Cross University in Australia recently examined the use of far-red light technology and cannabis cultivation to see how far-red light affects plant yields. The study’s findings were published in the academic journal Scientific Reports.
“Far-red (FR) light elicits two distinct processes in plants. First, a shade avoidance response which is triggered when the ratio of red to FR (R: FR) declines. Second, it interacts synergistically with higher frequency wavelengths of light (e.g. red or white) which improves the efficiency of photosynthesis.” the researchers wrote.
“We investigated whether we could harness these phenomena in medicinal Cannabis to improve yields so that the duration of the photoperiod could be reduced to 10 h (“10L”) whilst returning similar or improved yields compared to a 12 h photoperiod (“12L”).” the researchers also wrote.
Energy consumption is an increasing concern for the emerging global cannabis industry from a sustainability standpoint. It is also a financial concern for legal cannabis producers being as the cost of energy is rising around the world. With that in mind, reducing photoperiod time while maintaining, or even better increasing, overall yield is significant.
“The THC concentrations were elevated in both high THC varieties by the different FR treatments. In Hindu Kush the concentration of THC was elevated by the addition of 4 h of total FR (“10L_2_2D”), and in Northern Lights total cannabinoid yields were increased by nearly 70% over the 12 L control (0.43 versus 0.25 g Plant− 1) by the addition of 2 h of FR in darkness after 10 h of light (“10L_2D”).” the researchers determined.
“Our results show a strong yield and quality advantage in high THC lines treated with end-of-day FR treatments. Furthermore, a lighting schedule of 10L_2D instead of 12 L would result in a saving of 5.5% in power usage and resultant emissions.” the researchers concluded.
It is worth noting that this study was fairly limited in size and scope, and that further research needs to be performed before there is a final answer regarding the benefits of incorporating far-red light into cultivation strategies. However, the results of this study are still insightful and give producers things to consider.