Originally published on Lancaster Farming.
On this week’s podcast, we talk to Seth Crawford, founder of Oregon CBD, one of the leaders in hemp seed production and breeding. Oregon CBD always seems to be one step ahead of the industry and they just did it again by making triploid hemp commercially available from growers.
In plant breeding, triploids are not new. It’s a technique that lets breeders create seedless varieties of plants that cannot be pollinated -- think seedless watermelons and seedless grapes. But in hemp, a seedless variety that cannot be pollinated is an absolute game changer. The implications for the industry are staggering.
“Being able to have grain production and have cannabinoid production and have fiber production requires that you don’t have cross-pollination or contamination,” Crawford said. “And there wasn’t really a way of ensuring that until we were able to put these triploids out. So now you can truly have multiple use crops and be able to plant them really close to each other without having any negative impact.”
