As the pharmaceutical industry’s demand for medicinal crops continues to grow, the sector is undergoing a shift towards large-scale, professional cultivation activities. In comparison with other horticultural crops, however, relatively little research is available about how to successfully and consistently grow medicinal plants commercially. Therefore, stone-wool producer Grodan recently conducted its own research. “Our aim with this study was to contribute to filling the knowledge gap. Our findings can definitely help growers to increase their production while maintaining the exacting standards required by pharmaceutical companies,” says Grodan’s Ben Nikaj.
Grodan has 50 years of experience in optimizing the performance of its stone-wool growing media for a whole range of plant types, and the company regards medicinal crops as an important emerging market now that the industry is rapidly professionalizing. “We are keen to build the same level of knowledge and expertise for medicinal crops as we have for other crops,” states Ben Nikaj, Senior Crop Advisor at Grodan, who has been supporting the company’s customers across the globe for more than two decades. “However, because of the history of the industry, there is not a lot of information out there specifically about medicinal plants. Therefore, we decided to help fill that knowledge gap for large-scale producers by conducting research of our own.”
