Innovations in Israeli cannabis farming could lead to global solutions to feed the world
By NIV ELISThe Flux team, a company which manufactures a hi-tech hydroponic growing system.(photo credit: DANA MEIRSON)
In hindsight, it seems eminently appropriate that a substance universally known for causing “the munchies” could spur a solution to global hunger problems.“It’s going to accelerate what’s happening in global food production,” says Karin Kloosterman in her Jaffa home, where she is hosting Canna Tech, a meetup of high-level investors and innovators in the field of medical cannabis.Her home – the East-West House – is an iconic building that her husband, musician Yisrael Borochov, turned into a world music venue in the 1990s, but also serves as the headquarters for her company, Flux.A bonfire, complete with long sticks and marshmallows for roasting, burns in the front yard as guests snack on cheese and sip wine. On display is Flux’s hydroponic technology system, which grows plants – whether tomatoes or cannabis – in water.The most advanced version of the hi-tech system automatically monitors and adjusts the chemical contents of the water in accordance with whatever “recipe” the grower thinks is best. A variety of sensors sends data to an app for remote monitoring and sharing, so farmers can swap or even sell their unique cocktails.The system, says Kloosterman, will be a boon to growers in the developing world, who might not have good soil conditions, but can easily grow plants hydroponically (i.e. in water), and also help urbanites grow their own food at home. Flux is just part of a new crop of agricultural technologies that could help the developing world which are being spurred, at least in part, by cannabis.“The medical cannabis world is the most advanced agricultural technology today,” says David “Dudu” Oren, a partner at Pirveli Ventures, which invests in early-stage Israeli start-ups. The marijuana business is not only viable, but is pushing at boundaries.“The technology cannabis is leading now will trickle down to the rest of agriculture,” he adds.One look at projections for the cannabis market explains why.In the US, medical cannabis is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and recreational pot use has become legal in Colorado and Washington state.The industry is still plagued with uncertainty due to federal drug laws, which make both funding and medical testing treacherous, but demand is growing nonetheless.Flux estimates that the global cannabis market will reach $40 billion globally in just five years. The growing legal market makes cannabis a very valuable plant, giving pharmaceutical businesses, investors and technologists new incentives to develop appropriate agricultural technology.“With legalization, cannabis is becoming a crop,” explains Lenore Shoham, vice president of new ventures at agriculture and food incubator Trendlines Agtech.Even where it’s legal, marijuana growers are often forced to keep their plants indoors, creating special conditions that technology needs to address. But the new technologies that can help growers increase their cannabis yield are applicable to the larger problems the world is facing, says Shoham.By 2050, the world is projected to have 2.7 billion more people than it does today, a 38 percent increase. Feeding those people will require sophisticated agricultural technology, says Shoham, because we will have to produce more, more efficiently, with limited resources.“That’s why we at Trendlines Agtech are excited about cannabis,” she explains, noting that the group gets some of its funding from the Israeli government.“The world is waking up to these problems, but here in Israel we’ve been dealing with them for 100 years.”Indeed, Israel is becoming a hub for cannabis research, not just because of its advanced agriculture technology, but also thanks to greater government openness to research.Dr. Alan Shackelford, a well-known advocate for loosening restrictions on medical marijuana, recently made aliya because the regulatory environment in Israel is so much more conducive to good research.In the US, he notes, cannabis was used medically for a hundred years before it was banned in 1937-1940. Like many other drugs, cannabis was made illegal as part of an attempt to criminalize behaviors and practices popular among certain immigrant groups.The overreach was profound. Not only was marijuana vilified in pop culture through pulp magazines decrying “reefer madness,” but the substance – relatively mild in comparison to addictive opioids, which are still regularly prescribed – was harshly classified alongside the hardest of drugs.As a result, even performing basic research for medical purposes requires approvals of several federal agencies, and is limited to certain strains of cannabis.For Shackelford, that was not good enough. His “aha moment” with cannabis came when treating a five-year-old girl named Charlotte Figi, who suffered from Dravet Syndrome, a form of epilepsy that caused roughly 300 violent seizures a week. Not only were the medications on the market not helping, they also had horrible side effects. Figi had gone into cardiac arrest twice due to the seizures; doctors did not believe she would survive.Shackelford ended up prescribing a cannabis oil treatment from a strain with low levels of THC, the psychoactive substance that causes a high, and high levels of CBD, the compound that has medical effects but does not make users feel stoned. Dubbed Charlotte’s Web, the cocktail helped the little girl get through an entire week without seizures.She still gets two drops of the cannabis oil a day, which has helped reduce the weekly seizures by over 99%.But the field needs more research, Shackelford says: “‘Take two puffs and call me in the morning’ is not good enough.” The plant strains need to be identified and tested for chemical content to ensure that research and thus treatment can be properly controlled.Shackelford is now chief science officer for One World Cannabis, an Israeli research firm which, since its research merger with Dynamic, has even started trading over-the-counter – on Wall Street.“I believe that investment in the capital market in cannabis will bring huge yields in the future, but we have to be careful,” says Itzik Shrem, who has invested in One World Cannabis and other medical cannabis companies.Whether the result of the growing market or the taboo that has surrounded marijuana, the field is drawing interest from sometimes unexpected sources.Flux Chief Technology Officer Amichai Yifrach, who spent 16 years developing technology in the IDF, compares cannabis growers to computer hackers.“It’s the same state of mind: ‘I’m good at something, I can innovate something and because I can, I do,’” he says.“When I first came here and Karin introduced me to hydroponics, I was clueless about the subject, and then I started reading and learning about it,” he recounts. The idea of growing plants through a collaborative network in a way that could help solve food problems attracted him.Yifrach brings his experience with “a lot of secret technology” from his army days to the field. When asked how defense tech could possibly relate to agriculture, Yifrach grins, and without divulging details cryptically replies, “Sensors.”Another business, Reflexive – which Yifrach co-founded – offers a clue. Its technology “analyzes movement patterns of a person and identifies real-time emergency situations when they occur,” then sends signals back to a service center.Flux’s technology, too, revolves around sensors monitoring an environment, sending signals to a computer and reacting accordingly. Its focus just happens to be on plants and, whether cannabis or vegetable, maximizing output.“To touch this subject using our knowledge, which is kind of unique, to feed the world – I couldn’t resist,” he says.Perhaps he was destined for agribusiness. His name, Yifrach, is Hebrew for “will bloom.” ■
