With our B2B commercial model, we have developed automated commercial containers for the cultivation of both medical cannabis, as well as vegetables and herbs.

Automated Commercial Containers for Cannabis Cultivation

Q&A with Ilona Morat, Marketing Communications Director | Seedo

09/30/19, 10:51 AM | Indoor & Vertical Farming, Supply Chain | AgTech, Cannabis, Containers, Sensors

Could you tell us a little about Seedo and how its technology works in the cannabis space? 

Seedo is a market-leading high-tech company providing the world's first fully automated and controlled indoor growing chambers. Leveraging artificial intelligence, Seedo developed two fully automated models of their grow boxes, which enable anyone--from at-home consumers to large-scale producers--to grow without prior experience or space, all while maximizing the quality, yield, and reliability of their crop in the process.

 

The Seedo Farm is an indoor growing container, but has the capacity to perform as a commercial-scale farm? How does this work?

With our B2B commercial model, we have developed automated commercial containers for the cultivation of both medical cannabis, as well as vegetables and herbs.

The technology allows for turnkey farm solution producing high quality, commercial quantity yields in a variety of "at-risk" markets. 

See the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccsj7yHnb8s

 

 

How is utilizing something like Seedo Farm beneficial to farmers? Is it beneficial for the environment as well, being a container?

The main advantages are:

1. No Seasonality/Climate effects: More extreme climate and weather conditions are making it harder for farmers to produce high quality, consistent products year round.

2. Uniform Standardized Yield: By controlling grow parameters in every inch of the container we allow for a more precise uniform cannabinoid yield which is critical for the pharma industry

3. Pesticide Free: Becoming increasingly more problematic across a wide range of crops. Without pesticides, many harmful crop diseases are found on food which is dangerous as well.

4. Land Efficiency: significantly reduces land usage (up to 80 containers can be stacked in 1,000 square meters) for Urban Farms

5. Water usage: Our solution saves 90% in water consumption compared to traditional methods. 

6. Logistical Costs/Shelf life: Currently, 30%-40% of retail price of produce in local supermarkets is a combination of shipping/supply costs and logistics. If a urban farm is built near a large city center, these costs would significantly reduce. Additionally, shelf life of produce would improve over 50%!

7. Data: Optimize grow conditions based on data automated systems collect. Traditional farming can’t do this nearly as efficiently.    

 

In addition to Seedo Farm, you have the Seedo Home for individual home grows. How does the Seedo Home differ and how does it help those looking for smaller scale grows?

Our B2C home grow devices allow for pesticide-free automated growing, from seed to harvest, of vegetable plants, herbs and medical cannabis. Medical cannabis is most popular among our customers due to:

1. The difficulty of growing your own plant at home

2. Pesticides and or mold found in dispensary bought medical cannabis

3. Expensive pricing of purchased medical cannabis. 

The system also utilizes an AI algorithm and analyzed computer vision to optimize all growing parameters during the grow cycle (ie, temperature, humidity, water, lighting, nutrients etc..). Every couple of hours an HD camera in the machine scans the plant and our algorithm then analyzes the data and changes the necessary parameters where needed. The entire growth cycle is monitored and managed from our mobile app.

You can see our pre-sale video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3DQug4XmMg

 

Automation is very important to Seedo. How is automation useful for the cannabis industry and have you seen an increase in agricultural automation use?

Automation is the future of both commercial agriculture and horticulture because of how effective it is at cutting down on processes. We are seeing automation being used in various farms, especially with the bigger Canadian LP's. They are implementing robotics at each stage of the growth process allowing for more automation.

 

Tell us more about employing artificial intelligence in the cannabis industry? What does that look like and how has that worked for your business?

AI has helped Seedo truly optimize the entire growing process by combining/processing data from our camera/sensors and thereby making the necessary changes to grow parameters in real time, without human intervention.

As Seedo gathers more data from more B2C and B2B machines, we will have the ability to grow a wide variety of plants and vegetables in the most optimal way. With the increasing difficulties in traditional global farming, this type of technology will become more and more prevalent and necessary.

 

We also hear your machines have a shared agronomy database? What is it? How does it work?

We will soon be growing thousands of plants. With each grow, the machines are photographing and analyzing each image. Together with the information from the various sensors, a huge database of data and images from all of the machines is created and each machine learns to improve itself in all parameters to increase the output and quality of the plant.

 

What does it mean to utilize algorithms to maximize production? How do these algorithms benefit the harvest overall?

The system utilizes an AI algorithm and analyzed computer vision to optimize all growing parameters during the grow cycle (ie, temperature, humidity, water, lighting, nutrients etc..). Every couple of hours an HD camera in the machine scans the plant and our algorithm then analyzes the data and changes the necessary parameters where needed.

 

What sets Seedo apart from other businesses in the cannabis space?

We are purely a technology company and are constantly developing innovative methods of optimizing cannabis growth. We offer complete automation so medical cannabis patients all over the world can grow high-quality, pesticide free cannabis within the comfort of their own home without any prior knowledge.

 

Utilizing all of this futuristic technology, can you give us some insight on where you see the cannabis industry headed next in terms of agriculture? 

The world of cannabis is now undergoing a serious reform, and soon a lot of drugs and preparations that companies and researchers have developed over the last five years are going to be released. So, we will see more and more regulatory oversight, more attention to the small details of growing, drying, and extraction processes, just like there is in the medical world today.

This is where the AI and LM capabilities that Seedo develops becomes relevant. With these technologies we can grow plants consistently and with high accuracy and precision.

The content & opinions in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of AgriTechTomorrow

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