The world's largest cannabis plant planned for a small Canadian village

A small town in Alberta, Canada, could soon become the world’s largest producer of medical cannabis. Cremona is a small town with just 500 residents, but the Aurora Cannabis facility plans to expand to an area the size of 10 football fields by 2018.

Layout of the future cannabis facility

Aurora Cannabis already sells $1 million worth of cannabis per month and aims to quickly become the world’s largest cannabis producer. Their expansion project could result in the most sophisticated and efficient indoor grow facility.

«We propose building a hybrid greenhouse model based on Dutch design and a closed-loop system that will allow us to control all environmental variables, including heat and humidity,» said Aurora Cannabis Vice President Cam Battley.

According to Battley, the main goal is to be able to produce cannabis at a lower operating cost than anywhere else in the world, with a significant portion of the process automated.

Aurora Cannabis’s current facility must strictly comply with the health and safety regulations issued by Health Canada. Aurora is Alberta’s only cannabis producer and currently supplies 7 tons of cannabis per year to approximately 15,000 medical patients.

The expansion project has not yet been finalized. It received the town’s approval following a second vote by the City Council, with four votes in favor and two against, after several hours of debate that followed a 3-3 tie in the first round.

Aurora Cannabis is preparing for the arrival of the legalizing cannabis in Canada. The Canadian cannabis market will need to grow to the point where it replaces the illegal supply and is also looking beyond its borders. Canada has been cultivating cannabis for many years and will be able to supplement the legal supply in the U.S. for states that do not yet have the capacity to do so. Canadian cannabis producers also already have a foothold in Europe, in supplying a portion of Germany's medical cannabis which, too, will begin to rise in early 2017.

Via CBC