Enhancing Cannabis sativa production in South Africa to support a diverse use for different purposes within the world of industry. Cannabis sativa is now legal and commercially grown for its beneficial properties in health care including pharmaceuticals, medicines, herbal treatment, food and beverages. To ensure future sustainability, it is important to research and develop new improved growing methods of Cannabis sativa. The legal system to grow Cannabis is govern by rules and regulations which must be followed in order to ensure quality produce as well as safe to use plants of Cannabis sativa.

The current media which includes, peat, perlite and vermiculite are used to grow Cannabis sativa is expensive and cannot be reused and recycled for the next growing cycle, however different substrate mixes can allow for this to be possible. A cheaper source of growing media is required due to the extremely high demand of Cannabis sativa, ensuring similar or more effective outputs in quality and quantity.

AIPs are wide distributed and spreading throughout the South African districts including different species that affects the environment of indigenous flora and fauna in detrimental ways. The government spends billions or rand continuously without finding a permanent solution to maintain control over these invasive alien plants species. A very few of these AIPs are toxic when composted naturally within the environments they occupy. The AIPs that are being experimented on, including the 1. Tithonia diversifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is commonly known as the tree marigold, Mexican tournesol, Mexican sunflower, Japanese sunflower or Nitobe chrysanthemum and 2. Syzigium cumini commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, will be used as a composted medium to grow Cannabis sativa. The purpose of this study is to naturally eradicate AIPs which can composted and used as a growing medium for the cultivation of Cannabis sativa.

These two AIPs will be composted into an enriched medium which will then be used growing medium to enhance growth and development on Cannabis sativa. The methodology will be Quantitative. The composted enriched medium generated from the Tithonia divesifolia and Syzygium cumini will be sterilized in an autoclave at the Biotechnology department at the Durban university of technology. Cannabis sativa clones were made from parent plants and was allowed to root in the cloning room at 21 degrees Celsius with a humidity level of between 50 - 60g/kg. Cs will be grown in 25cm pots with the control mixture being the current growing medium at Opulence pharmaceuticals which is 60%peat and 40% perlite. The experiments will comprise of 1. 100% Tithonia diversifolia, 2. 75% Td + 25% control, 3. 50% Td + 50% control, 4. 25% Td + 75% control and 1. 100% Syzygium cumini, 2. 75% Sc + 25% control, 3. 50% Sc + 50% control, 4. 25% Sc + 75% control. These plants will be grown in a controlled environment greenhouse structure for a period of 98 days, which comprises of 14 days for the germination stage in the cloning room, 7 days in pre-vegetative or seedling stage, 21 days in vegetative stage and 56 days in the flowering stage. The measurements will include; 1. plant height, size of leaves (diameter+lenght), these measurements will be taken weekly for the period of the experiment. 2. Plant biomass (fresh and dry), 3. Chlorophyll content and 4. Cannabidiol levels will be tested from each of the experimental trials. Trichome will be tested using a scan and light- microscopy method at the microscopy unit at UKZN. Post-harvest analysis of buds will be tested for CBD oils in different storage conditions. 

The results of this study will be useful in empowering SMMEs to start composting initiatives as a business. This will encourage the areas of concern in terms of distribution of AIPs. This study will showcase the recycling of AIPs which will be useful in environmental sustainability and soil enrichment for future planning.

Recent LIFE projects have identified effective methodologies for the practical use of dredged sediments from port water bodies, which are then phytoremediated for agricultural applications. These studies demonstrated that such sediments are suitable for agriculture in terms of fertility and agronomic productivity. They are well-suited for container production of ornamental plants, a sector that is estimated to use half of the peat produced in Europe. However, the LIFE HORTISED (LIFE14 ENV/IT/000113) and LIFE SUBSED (LIFE17 ENV/IT/000347) projects have highlighted the potential of this innovative sediment-based horticultural substrate for food crop growing. The primary focus of these projects has been to assess the quality attributes of edible plant parts through biochemical and sensory characterization, demonstrating that the edible plant parts are safe for human consumption. In addition to fruit shrubs and berries such as pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), lemon (Citrus limon L.), strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.), blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L), and wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca L.), the projects also included a short-cycle leafy vegetable (Lactuca sativa L.) and an aromatic species (Ocimum basilicum L.), which is frequently used as a biomarker to detect the presence of heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxic compounds in contaminated soils. Quality traits, such as nutraceutical properties and sensory parameters, were investigated. Food safety was evaluated through analyses of inorganic and organic contaminants in various plant parts, as well as element bioaccumulation in the roots and stems of the examined shrub species. Official and standardized analytical methods were employed to determine contaminants in edible parts, covering a broad spectrum of elements and chemical compounds to ensure transparent and reliable results. The qualitative results are reported and discussed, with comparisons made to safe limits established by European and Italian legislation, and an assessment of health risk is included.

Over the past 11 years, massive amounts of sargassum algae (Sargassum sp.) have invaded the Caribbean and Mexico, engulfing the region in a „brown tide“ for 6-8 months of the year. The impact of sargassum has created an ecological, economic and social crisis. Despite the impact of sargassum, countries in the region have not developed a coordinated and coherent strategy to deal with this emergency. Several strategies have been proposed, of which capturing and reusing the biomass ranks among the top for cost, environmental footprint, carbon capture and benefit to agriculture. Composting of Sargassum allows stabilization of the material and sequestration of its nutrient and biostimulatory potential. However, recent studies have shown that Atlantic Sargassum may contain elevated levels of heavy metals, particularly arsenic (As) which through land application can pose a pollution risk. The extent of this risk has not been assessed for Caribbean SIDS and is a precursor to the use of land disposal as a management strategy. A field study was conducted to characterize and evaluate Sargassum based compost effects on crop productivity, mineral content, soil fertilizer and soil health at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Three treatments were investigated: Sargassum compost, compost without sargassum and a fertilizer control. Treatments were replicated four times. Tomato (S. lycopersicum) was used as the test crop and cultivated for three months. Fruit, leaves and soil were collected at the end of the trial and analyzed for yield, nutrient and metal contents and soil health indicators. Characterization of Sargassum compost showed significantly lower primary nutrient and metal content compared to the no-Sargassum compost. The opposite was seen for secondary nutrients and As. As content was 5-fold higher in the Sargassum compost. Tomato yield was significantly higher for the Sargassum compost 5350 kg/ha and lowest for the fertilizer control 3687.5 kg/ha. Tissue nutrient content like soil fertility showed significant differences between treatments. Compost treatments had lower bulk density and higher Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) contents. Metals concentrations varied across treatments in both plant and soil. Quantification of As content is important in determining the suitability of Sargassum application to soil.

The market of plant´s active ingredients products is steadily increasing over the last years. Cultivating pharmaceutical plants in indoor vertical farming systems allow to set controlled conditions for the plant´s growth and to stimulate the active ingredient’s production. Rhodiola rosea is a pharmaceutical plant that naturally stores beneficial ingredients, rosavins and salidroside, mainly in its rhizome and roots. The aim of this study was to create a natural alginate-based hydrogel substrate that could support the plant during transplant, that would degradate over time allowing an easier root harvest and at the same time act as a biostimulant at root level. Alginate is a natural polymer derived from brown algae, which is well known for its plant growth promoting activities. Different concentrations of alginate and activated carbon, used as a biofertilizer, were tested. The hydrogels were produced by a cross-linking reaction with a calcium chloride solution and their application as soilless substrates was tested using rockwool as a control. Rhodiola rosea seedlings were cultivated for 70 days in a vertical farm container using a deep-water irrigation system and full spectra LED lights. The results demonstrated that alginate and activated carbon hydrogels could successfully be implemented in the hydroponic setup functioning as plants holding support systems after transplant. During the cultivation period the hydrogels completely degraded facilitating the harvest of rhizomes and roots. The interaction of the alginate and activated carbon with the roots also showed promising results on Rhodiola rosea´s active ingredients, in particular the presence of activated carbon stimulated the accumulation of total rosavins. The project is funded by the Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst (STMWK).