Nicole Heller/ Staff Writer
FIU professor Krishnaswamy Jayachandran, also known as Dr. Jay, was excited to announce FIU’s partnership with Green Point Research (GPR) to launch an industrial hemp project.
The project will take place at a secure location in Homestead, the place where GPR will grow and cultivate hemp seeds. Dr. Jay, co-director of the Agroecology program from the Department of Earth and Environment, stated that “FIU will not be cultivating industrial hemp, we will bring hemp seeds to our labs and use it only for research purposes.”
“GPR is the company that is funding the project. They have already partnered up with other large universities such as the University of Florida and the University of South Florida” Dr. Jay said.
The industrial hemp project aims to accomplish three objectives. The first one is to educate students by allowing them to investigate the composition of the seeds and research about all the possible benefits of industrial hemp.
The second element is to offer students the possibility of doing research in the field. “I have a student working on his master’s thesis and another one doing his Ph.D. thesis,” he said.
Finally, the professor spoke about performing outrage activities involving workshops and classes for farmers directed to educate them about their benefits.
Dr. Jay also explained that hemp plants are defined as any cannabis plant that contains 0.3% or less THC. “The industrial hemp project has been officially certified by the Florida department of agriculture and consumer services. Without their certification, we can’t engage in any kind of research,” Dr. Jay gladly said.
The professor is expecting the project to start in August, and he mentioned that “for now, FIU has signed up for one-year and will only be working with two students since they have been actively involved in meetings on the topic.”
However, FIU hopes to continue working with Green Point Research for the long term and be able to involve more students in the future.
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