Standards developer ASTM International is proposing land preparation benchmarks for the CBD value chain, and inviting stakeholders to provide input to the quality assurance effort.
“Creating a standard to ensure land is properly prepared for the cultivation of hemp is essential,” said Dustin Robinson, an ASTM member and attorney at Florida, USA-based Mr. Cannabis Law. “As the cannabis industry grows, new standards are necessary to provide best practices regarding the growth and extraction of CBD.”
Confusion in the marketplace
The standard is to address soil conditions and testing, equipment and tools, and the impact of groundwater levels, ASTM said in a release.
Robinson said the current lack of standard practices is leading to confusion in the marketplace, loss of crops by farmers, and dangerous chemical spraying on farms.
ASTM’s subcommittee on indoor and outdoor horticulture and agriculture is seeking help in developing the standard from government agricultural departments, university researchers and farmers interested in growing cannabis for CBD.
Help for all stakeholders
The proposed standard could help farmers, equipment makers, CBD processors and retailers, states and municipalities, enforcement agencies, commercial real estate stakeholders, and companies looking for suitable land for cannabis cultivation and CBD extraction, ASTM said.
ASTM International is one of the largest voluntary standards developing organizations in the world. The not-for-profit group provides a forum for the development and publication of international consensus standards for materials, products, systems and services. ASTM’s volunteer members represent producers, consumers, government, and academia from more than 140 countries.
