ASX-listed ag-tech company Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies (ROO) has sold its first Root Zone Temperature Optimisation (RZTO) heating and cooling system in America to Tim Blake of Laytonville, California. Blake is a leader in the cannabis industry in the Emerald Triangle and beyond.
Valued at A$49,500/ US$35,000, the initial sale involves Roots installing its proprietary RZTO cooling and heating technology at Blake’s property in Mendocino County, housing the cultivation farm called Little Hawk Collective, Inc. Blake leases the land to the Collective and is installing the RZTO system as a tenant improvement.
Given the strategic importance of the sale, the two parties have agreed to split the cost of installation each paying half.
Tim Blake said, “We are very excited to use our lands to demonstrate the RZTO system that is green technology and heats and cools the cannabis roots, leading to a healthier plant and increasing the yield substantially. We are going to monitor the growing from the initial planting through the harvest to determine the yield increase and the energy savings. This is a demonstration, and if successful, we will be utilizing the RZTO system at partner’s farms also”.
The sale is a result of Roots’ recent Technology Showcase in North America and builds on the successful RZTO heating results on cannabis in an open field in Washington State, where average dried un-trimmed bud weight increased by 60 to 283 percent despite challenging autumn growing conditions of heavy frosts and temperatures below zero degrees.
Climate management technologies are increasingly sought after by cannabis producers in North America as large-scale cultivation moves from indoor growing to greenhouses and open field operations. Roots’ RZTO technology minimises the impact of external weather conditions.
Roots CEO, Dr. Sharon Devir said,
Roots has a unique offering in the American cannabis market with the only known and successfully tested open field Root zone heating and cooling technology. Our RZTO technology enables cannabis producers to maximise crop production, quality and profit and supplies security. In greenhouse set ups it also offers significant energy consumption reductions. This first sale to an industry leader is indicative of the potential of our RZTO technology within the lucrative cannabis sector.
“The highly competitive US cannabis market is increasingly seeking to adopt sustainable ag-tech solutions, with lower initial capital outlays and reduced operating expenses to maximise crop production, quality and profit year-round.”
“North America’s cannabis market has developed rapidly in recent years. Thirty-two US states now allow cannabis for medical use, 16 for Canabidiol (CBD) and 11 states allow recreational use. Market size of the US sector has increased 30 percent in 2018 to US$12 billion with 10,000 active business licences across cultivation, extraction and manufacturing, retail, distribution and testing. It is an evolving and competitive market where increased supply is driving the adoption of sustainable ag-tech solutions to reduce capital outlays and ongoing operational expenses.
“We see the North American cannabis market as offering significant sales opportunities for our root zone heating and cooling technology. The Little Hawk Collective farm on Tim Blake’s property in the Emerald Triangle was one of the producers we visited on the recent technology showcase. We expect this to be the first of many sales with key producers in the region.”