![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Puro-NZ-Winston-1.jpg\")
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Rugged alpine mountains sweep down to thundering waves along the wild Kaik\u014dura Coast in Marlborough, New Zealand. Standing in a field high above the southern Pacific Ocean shoreline, I inhale deeply; the sweetly pungent aroma of sungrown cannabis plants and crisp ocean air surrounds me. An overwhelming sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu suddenly hits me \u2014 it\u2019s as if I\u2019ve been here before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m on assignment visiting K\u0113kereng\u016b, the grow operation for Puro, New Zealand\u2019s largest licensed medical cannabis cultivation company. Founded in 2018, Puro is part of an exclusive international group of large-scale commercial growers using organic methods of cultivation. Tiffany Tompkins from Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) is also on the tour. As CEO, her mission, she says, is to help OANZ members, including Puro, collaboratively work for organic policies that benefit the health of New Zealand\u2019s people, communities, environment and economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Winston Macfarlane, site manager at Puro, explains that K\u0113kereng\u016b is almost the exact distance from the equator to Humboldt County but along southern latitude lines. Therefore, that same terroir that makes the Emerald Triangle grow some of the world\u2019s best cannabis can also be found here.\u00a0<\/p>\n K\u0113kereng\u016b has been home to Macfarlane\u2019s family for more than 130 years. Winston and his older brother Sank Macfarlane, who\u2019s also on Puro\u2019s leadership team, are the sixth generation to farm the 1000-hectare property. Implementing sustainable grow practices, they\u2019re working to grow premium medical cannabis that improves the health and well-being of people, along with the surrounding environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Puro\u2019s decision to grow under organic protocols has come from the company\u2019s core values, the younger Macfarlane says. \u201cWe\u2019re committed to growing and supplying premium cannabis products as sustainably and ethically as we can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Overwhelming evidence shows that synthetic chemicals used in conventional agriculture pose adverse health risks to humans, as well as nasty side effects to the environment. Organic agriculture, on the other hand, works in partnership with nature \u2014 it nurtures the health of people and ecosystems. With an emphasis on clean water and creating soil vitality that\u2019s teeming with microscopic life, organic farming encourages the soil rhizosphere to flourish, rather than treating it as an inert monolayer.<\/p>\n As Macfarlane leads us across the farm toward the fields of cannabis, Tompkins can\u2019t hide her enthusiasm. \u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to see this brand-new medical cannabis industry emerging in New Zealand. Puro is setting a new precedent for organic cultivation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s late summer on the flat plateau at K\u0113kereng\u016b, and the plants are thriving in their microenvironment. The grow offers high UV ratings and long sunshine hours, while the salty sea spray provides a natural anti-bacterial layer, helping to keep insect and pest numbers low.\u00a0<\/p>\n Puro\u2019s Managing Director Tim Aldridge and Commercial Cultivation Lead Max Jablonski join us in the fields. We walk through the rows of fragrant bushes, inspecting the beauty and bounty of the flourishing pink-pistil plants, and Jablonski starts telling me about his life before New Zealand: He was working at Caliva, a vertically integrated cannabis company in California, where he focused on postharvest, cultivation and fertigation. Turns out we have a few mutual connections; again, California doesn\u2019t seem all that far away.<\/p>\n \u201cK\u0113kereng\u016b provides perfect growing conditions, with a coastal microclimate that\u2019s ideal for medical cannabis production,\u201d Aldridge said, adding that he and his team believe New Zealand has the potential to produce some of the best cannabis in the world. Cannabis grown under organic protocols in New Zealand has piqued international interest, and Puro is currently finalizing its first export orders. According to Aldridge, the government has been extremely helpful, especially the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.<\/p>\n Aldridge also reveals that Puro\u2019s Cultivation Director, Tom Forrest, is leading a research and breeding program with geneticist Dr. Anna Campbell from AbacusBio, a world-class genetics company. Using a scientifically driven quantitative breeding program, the two are developing a seed bank of consistent medical cultivars that are adaptable to organic cultivation methods, alongside traditionally important traits such as yield and potency.<\/p>\n A Churchill Fellow for Cannabis Agronomy, Forrest has spent time at over 50 cannabis cultivation facilities across eight countries, examining differing approaches and optimal methods for growing cannabis. Under his leadership, Puro has been awarded an \u201cIn Conversion\u2019\u2019 organic certification.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAfter informal experiments with various living soil methodologies and forays into the world of permaculture, it became very evident that organic cultivation is a necessary part of our future,\u201d Forrest later tells me on the phone after my visit. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s still somewhat anecdotal evidence, we\u2019re confident that biological, natural and organic cultivation methods will encourage healthier growth with more desirable secondary metabolite production \u2014 higher concentrations of terpenes, flavonoids and cannabinoids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Raised in a conventional farming family, Forrest says he\u2019s always wanted to challenge traditional modern agriculture and find a more progressive means of cultivating healthy food and medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cNatural products have been intertwined with pharmaceutical practice since the dawn of mankind,\u201d he said. \u201cOur first recorded medicines were all plant-based and organically produced. Herbal medicines are now a powerful voice in the pharmaceutical portfolio, and cannabis has a strong role to play.\u201d<\/p>\n We agree about the sheer beauty of the outdoor cultivation site at K\u0113kereng\u016b, and we discuss Puro\u2019s overarching plans to improve the land, soil and environment while contributing to a healthier future for both plants and people. Forrest believes the relationship between organic cannabis and the local environment, the benefits for the farm and farmers, and the influence of terroir on cannabis expression are all strong arguments for organic cannabis.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOrganic and sustainable medical cannabis cultivation are two of our core values,\u201d Forrest said. \u201cWe aim to improve the land, soil and environment of our growing locations and contribute to a healthier future.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Meanwhile, In The South Pacific\u2019s Emerald Triangle\u2026<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Rugged alpine mountains sweep down to thundering waves along the wild Kaik\u014dura Coast in Marlborough, New Zealand. Standing in a field high above the southern Pacific Ocean shoreline, I inhale deeply; the sweetly pungent aroma of sungrown cannabis plants and crisp ocean air surrounds me. An overwhelming sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":62003,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,2121,136,5,85,15940,15429,55,1112,183,4307,5863,16619,2676,8956,3433,15430,15720,420,15432],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62002"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62004,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002\/revisions\/62004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Puro](\"https:\/\/cannabisnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Puro-NZ-Winston.jpg\")
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\nRead More: Meanwhile, In The South Pacific\u2019s Emerald Triangle\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"