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Dr. Russel Jessup is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University. Russ started his career developing improved perennial grasses as biorefinery platforms for biofuels, turfgrasses, forage, ornamentals, phytoremediators, and renewable bio-based products. He has since transitioned into working on breeding industrial hemp, during which, he and his team identified a need for field-portable testing technologies that could help accelerate their programs. At CannMed 23, he will present on three of those technologies. Doing our conversation we discuss:
- How a field portable near-infrared spectrometer can be used to screen hemp plants to make sure they don’t exceed 0.3% THC
- How a cellphone-based microscope attachment can determine the size, maturity, and type of trichomes
- How a microfluid channels are used to identify tetraploid hemp plants, which produce better fiber and grain than diploid plants
- How microfiber tents contain pollen from male plants so they can be in the same room as females
- Why Russ moved from perennial grasses to hemp
- The goal of creating stable, consistent industrial hemp lines that can be grown like other modern major crops
Thanks to This Episode’s Sponsor: Rare Earth Genomics
Rare Earth Genomics Texas is a partnership formed to accelerate hemp research and produce critical tools for the farmer. REG’s mission is to increase likelihood of a successful harvest through genetic analysis and rigorous environmental testing of vigorous cultivars. Reliable datasets, analytic tools and stable germplasm are core to the program. Success of the farmer is the goal!
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