Jamaican Medical Cannabis Corporation (JMCC), a Canadian-Jamaican medical cannabis exporter, has acquired 49 per cent ownership of Kirkpatrick Farms on the outskirts of Montego Bay.

The farm, which spans some 250 acres, will be used for the cultivation of medical cannabis. It will also add to JMCC’s existing grow sites, bringing total cultivation for the company to one million square feet or 23 acres of high-quality Jamaican medical cannabis for 2019.

According to JMCC, Kirkpatrick Farms will be its largest single cultivation site and will be managed by the company from cultivation through to harvest. JMCC is also prepping the farm for 90 custom-designed, mesh-sided Canadian-made greenhouses.

The greenhouses range from 3,000 to 9,000 square feet and have already been shipped to the island.

JMCC anticipates that the farm will be ready to receive plants in the first quarter of 2019 and will produce a minimum of three harvests per year.

The acquisition of Kirkpatrick Farms comes less than a year after JMCC signed an agreement to invest US$2 million over a ten-year period to identify, analyse and preserve Jamaica’s indigenous cannabis strains.

Today, the Canadian-headquartered company is not just looking to preserve the crop but has its eyes set on expanding its operation in Jamaica, with the acquisition of land for a 55,000-square-foot permanent operations facility near Montego Bay.

The company said over the next six months it will work on building out a state-of-the-science facility that incorporates an analytical testing lab, processing, extraction, packaging, warehousing and logistics operations as well as offices.

Additionally, JMCC is searching for an office and warehousing site for its Canadian offices and warehouse in the Oshawa-Whitby area of Ontario, near Toronto.

“Three years ago, we knew that Jamaica had the right combination of strengths to make the country a global competitor. Our continuing investment and expansion are testaments to the faith we have in Jamaica accomplishing that goal,” company Chair and CEO Diane Scott said.

“JMCC’s investment in Kirkpatrick Farms is another example of our commitment to Jamaica in terms of helping the country build a world-class medical cannabis industry,” the CEO continued.

In a statement to the public, JMCC noted that the project has been backed by former Prime Minister of Jamaica Edward Seaga whom the company sees as a founding father of modern Jamaica and a strong proponent of cooperative farming.

“He applauded JMCC’s investment in the island to date, and its determination to involve smaller farmers as cultivators. Without the inclusion of small growers, Jamaica cannot be successful in meeting our social development goals, as well as our economic development goals, for our medical cannabis industry,” JMCC said.

Recently, Seaga revealed that he is associated with a big player in the medical cannabis industry and believes that the country will one day get to the production of a million acres of the plant in a bid to satisfy global demand.

“The queen of them all, ganja. This plant has about 600 varieties and it is good for various types of ailments, from the heart right down to mosquito repellent. That plant has a future that is blowing over the people who have already got into the industry in terms of demand. I have an association with one of the big companies that is in the industry. I know their plans and where we are going in this country,” Seaga said during the 14th Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference of the Jamaica Stock Exchange.

In addition to direct farm operations like Kirkpatrick’s, JMCC operates another two cultivation models in Jamaica.

JMCC has partnered with large farmers across the island who grow exclusively for JMCC on their own land, using company supplied plantlets also registered with JMCC’s track-and-trace system which monitors each plant from clone/micropropagation through to the end business customer.

The farmers are also monitored for compliance with the company’s stringent cultivation protocols designed to meet international quality standards.

JMCC is moving forward in 2019 with its farmers’ collective pilot through which it will help small, independent farmers enter the industry by growing within one of the company’s secured sites.