As part of the Cannabis 101 series, industry professions and students from Niagara College’s Greenhouse Technician program spent their Saturday at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake to learn about pest management under the guidance of NC professor Graeme Murphy and officials from Health Canada.

In a series of hands-on labs as part of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) for Cannabis Cultivation course on February 8, participants had the chance to examine plants under the microscope to see the impact of insects, diseases and mites commonly present in commercial greenhouses. Murphy, a retired greenhouse IPM specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for 26 years, guided students through strategies for cannabis disease control. Murphy teaches part time in NC’s Greenhouse Technician program.

Mariana Garcia Valencia, current NC Greenhouse Program Student, looking for aphids.

Sebastian Jacob, professor in the School of Environment and Horticulture with Jason LeMay, PhD student at the University of Guelph discussing the growth of a plant currently under observation for specific pests.

Professor, Graeme Murphy assists Dr. Lata Sharma from CannTx Life Sciences to identify a pest.

The seminar was part of NC’s newly expanded Cannabis 101 seminar series, a collaboration between NC’s School of Part-Time Studies and the School of Environment & Horticulture. The Cannabis 101 series is intended to engage the Niagara community and industry professionals who want to learn more about the science and economics of cannabis from experts at NC, many who are faculty in Canada’s first Commercial Cannabis Production program.

“I think that the workshop worked really well, not just as an educational opportunity for participants, but also in terms of the interactions between attendees and instructors,” said Murphy. “The presence of Health Canada was invaluable in informing the discussions. Likewise the presentation on cannabis aphids by Jason Lemay, PhD student from the University of Guelph, provided insight into the expanding field of cannabis research.”

Amateur grower Todd Shepard – who holds an ACMPR (Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulation) license – took the course to get a better understanding of the common pitfalls of growing to help expand his operation.

“I wanted more knowledge and understanding of the types of issues to look for,” said Shepard. “Even though I only have a small operation compared to licensed producers, identifying, eliminating and controlling pests is a required task in any grow operations.”

Health Canada representatives from the Controlled Substances-Cannabis Branch, Pierre-Antoine Jollez watches as his colleague Eric Bonazza tries to locate pests in the petrie dish. Both were on-hand throughout the workshop to answer questions.

Todd Shepard studies parasitic wasps.

NC professor Bill MacDonald helps student Brayden Carter identify a winged parasite.

“I was pleased to hear the discussions that developed… and I hope that we see demand rise for these cannabis-related courses at the College, as they play a great role in educating the industry and development standards,” said Eric Bonazza, regulatory affairs specialist, Inspections Policy, Risk and Readiness, Cannabis Directorate with Health Canada.

Shepard admits he was a bit out of his comfort zone being in a science lab, but found the course to be very valuable.

“It was really interesting to hear from Health Canada,” he said. “The Cannabis 101 seminars have been a really great experience and would highly recommend these courses to someone who is new to growing cannabis.”

Learn more about upcoming courses, including the Retail Series, at niagaracollege.ca/parttimestudies/cannabis101.