University of California Berkeley Parlier, California
Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L., THC content >0.3%) is currently legal for medical and/or recreational uses in two thirds of the United States, including California. With an estimated crop value in the tens of billions of dollars, cannabis is poised to become a significant contributor to California’s agricultural economy, likely on par with other high value specialty crops in the state. At the same time, legalization of cannabis production has also generated demands for state and regulatory agencies to address the social, ecological and agronomic aspects of this new and highly valuable crop.
While cannabis production is not inherently any more or less detrimental to the environment than other similar crops, little is known about specific production practices outside of the grower community. With historically limited access to resources and training, cannabis growers have been forced to develop their own production strategies and knowledge-sharing networks. While many growers emphasize sustainability, recent studies have demonstrated that some aspects of production – including pest management – can have negative impacts on the environment, workers, consumers and/or rural communities.
Here, we conducted an online survey of California cannabis growers to document and characterize key production practices, including management of arthropod pests. Findings from this survey provide a starting place to help scientists identify research questions to address key environmental, social and agronomic questions, as well as develop extension programs to promote best management practices to minimize negative environmental impacts of production.
