COMMERCIAL CANNABIS CULTIVATION
(3 DAY course - JHB or CPT option)
R9,450

LEAD instructors

Natie Ferreira:
Natie’s 18 years of experience in the green industry as a beautifier, project manager and producer has brought him to the place where horticulture and agriculture meet. He has extensive knowledge and experience of farming and growing Cannabis and is a driving force in the industry. His participation in Cannabis-related organisations include being a founding member and treasurer of the Cannabis Industrial Development Cooperative of the Western Cape (CIDCWC), a founding member and chairman of the Association of Compassion (AOC) and the owner of Tamatie - Growing Master Grower - who we partner with to deliver advanced grow courses.

Natie’s ability to assemble and manage a professional team has led to the successful completion of many large and smaller scale projects across the Western Cape. Through his mentorship program, Natie unlocks the potential of previously excluded people, bringing them into the mainstream economy.

Merge his instinctive understanding of the Cannabis plant in all its phases with his knowledge and green fingers, and you have a deep source of Cannabis know-how. It is this intuition and intelligence, coupled with his empathy and understanding of people, that unleashes the power of Cannabis to bring people together.

Ashley Lurie:
Ashley Lurie was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Druids Garden, a SAHPRA licensed Cannabis growing facility under Druids Holdings (Pty) Ltd and is responsible for the entire Cannabis grow operation from seed to harvest. He has in depth knowledge of a wide range of medicinal Cannabis cultivation models and understands the intricacies of site selection, facility design and layout as well as cultivation and processing methodologies. 

Ashley Lurie, now runs the consultancy company Seed2Ash that assists clients in legal Cannabis Cultivation with a focus on licensing, compliance, various cultivation models, procedures and systems, local and international market access. 

Johan Pieterse:
Johan Pieterse is the owner of Travsec, who specialises in security, risk-management and compliance services to stakeholders in the regulated cannabis industry. By providing clients with acomplete suite of ‘seed to sale’ security solutions at all stages of the cannabis value-chain, Travsec looks to set the global standard for security across the cannabis markets in South Africa and Africa.

Travsec is actively involved at Druids Holdings (Pty) Ltd, one of the first Cannabis farms to receive their SAHPRA license. 

Kwanda Mtetwa:
Kwanda Mtetwa aka Cuban Zulu is a boutique indoor grower who has lectured and worked for Cheeba Cannabis Academy and gained experience working at two SAHPRA licensed farms in senior cultivator roles. He is a highly respected cultivator with great insight into scaling up from hobbyist to commercial Cannabis grows. He  understands the importance of compliance, track and trace, hygiene and having a well trained team to support a successful harvest at scale.  

Nico Kriek:
The Cannabis Compliance Bureau has been leading the way in Cannabis compliance and licensing, focusing on helping cultivation and processing facilities achieve full compliance, preparing them for a medicinal Cannabis cultivation license application through SAHPRA. Over the past five years, they have provided their expertise to more than 40 farms, facilitating their license applications.

GUEST SPEAKERS

• Greg Beadle (Farmer to Pharma): Off-takes
• Bryan Verpoort (Berkley Risk): Cannabis insurance
• Trenton Birch (Cheeba Africa): Industry overview
• Jeff Verlinden (Separations): Extraction

Course syllabus

DAY 1:
Cannabis Industry Overview: 
- An overview of the cannabis supply chain from seed to sale
- Grower vision, why do you want to grow and what do you hope to achieve
- Licensing, regulation and legal status
- Deciding what to grow - strain selection (genetics) - THC, CBD complex, hemp, yield, growth habit, personal preference, flower to calyx ratio

Growing Outdoors:
- Financial modelling - budgets and generating ROI
- Capacity - size of grow and personnel and expertise needed to deliver
- Cannabis plant - growth habits and requirements vs other conventional commercially grown annual crops
- Site selection - accessibility for staff, climate, security, fencing, access control, proximity to market, latitude (daylight cycle, temperature range, sunlight)
- Water - (source, quantity, rainfall, quality, analysis, filtration, irrigation systems and design (fertigation, EC, pH, precipitation rates), scheduling, automation
- Plant material source - seed, clones, tissue culture
- Growing Style - pots vs soil, pH, plant spacing, soil and growing medium analysis, water holding capacity
- Infrastructure - tunnels, shade-netting, open-air, design and layout (pros and cons)
- Environmental Control - relative humidity, pests and disease control, biological / conventional, temperature, light cycles – across all developmental stages of the  plants growth and their effects on the final product
- Nutrients - feeding schedules, overview of macro and micro elements and their role in the plant at various growth stages, organic vs chemical, bioaccumulation, heavy metals, companion planting
- Harvesting - outdoor considerations
- Manipulations and effects - LST, HST, monster cropping, light deprivation
- Certification - traceability, GAP, GMP, responsibility, C.O.A

DAY 2:
An Introduction to Medical Cannabis Cultivation Licensing & Compliance Orientation
- SAHPRA High-THC Medical Cannabis cultivation licensing requirements
- Scope, plan and design
- Build and setup
- SAHPRA License application process
- ISO:9001 vs GACP vs GMP
- C15 QualityOne - Quality management systems overview
- SOP's (Standard Operating Procedures)
- Staff and training
- Quality assurance and risk management
- What to expect on inspection day
- Staying compliant

Growing Indoors (facility):
- Financial Modelling - budget, ROI, grower vision, capacity – personnel, expertise level
- Capacity - size of grow and personnel and expertise needed to deliver
- Site selection - security, location, existing infrastructure and conversions
- Infrastructure overview - different rooms / areas required
- Water - source, quantity, quality, analysis, filtration, irrigation systems and design, EC, pH, scheduling, automation
- Lighting - PPFD, PAR, DLI, spectrum, LED vs HPS, running costs, maintenance
- Grow cycle scheduling - dedicated vegetative facility, flowering facility
- Growing style - pots vs DWC vs aeroponics vs growslabs
- Growing medium - coco peat / perlite, organic soil, rockwool
-Environmental control - temperature / air circulation (HVAC), CO2 enrichment, relative humidity, pests and disease control – biological / conventional, light cycle scheduling, filtration
- Nutrients - feeding schedules, overview of macro and micro elements and their role in the plant at various growth stages, organic vs chemical
- Sustainability - using solar power, energy efficiency, rainwater harvesting and recycling
- Harvesting - timing, labour, trimming – hand vs machine, drying, curing, storage
- Manipulations and effects - LST, HST, monster cropping, SOG, SCrOG
- Certification -traceability, GAP, GMP, responsibility, C.O.A

An Introduction to Extraction and Testing:
- Different methods of extraction
- The importance of testing and testing methodologies

DAY 3:
- Site visit to a SAHPRA registered farm