Christopher J. Tuchio saw students graduate from the gardening program and pursue careers in entertainment centers in Connecticut or Massachusetts.
Now, students at Nagatak Valley Community College can take lessons on how to grow marijuana.
The college joins a number of higher education institutions in the state, including UConn, which offers cannabis-related education.
“We have been providing plant-growing skills and they have to adapt to the work,” said Tuciyo, a horticultural development coordinator and professor of horticulture at the Community College STEM. “Now, it’s really important. We can train them especially for the present.
The course, known as cannabis horticulture, is similar to the one offered by Quinbug Valley Community College, which launched a cannabis study program last year.
“In fact, it teaches everything from soil nutrition, plant nutrition, pest control, and then cannabis to cultivating and harvesting,” Tukiyo said. “It’s kind of an A to Z approach.”
A few licensed development projects were approved by the state after the approval of medical marijuana. However, the college has stopped because of the stigma attached to the pot.
Since then, Yukon and Kinebag have been teaching marijuana and the state’s legal use of recreation. Retail sales are expected to begin by the end of next year.
Other cannabis courses
Yukon launched the country’s first university class in 2019 on the basics of cannabis cultivation, and this summer began offering online courses to the public on basic and improved cannabis growing. Yukon, for his part, said the general public wants the industry to have financial opportunities.
Gerald “Gary” Bercovit, professor of plant science at Yukon College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, helped develop the university’s courses and partnerships in the industry.
“Our students see the potential and want to gain experience,” he told UConn in the spring. “Businesses need highly trained scientists to support the growth of this industry, and they need graduates who are able to enter the workforce. By offering more and more targeted courses, we can help both groups. It benefits everyone. ”
Eastern Connecticut State University will begin offering Hem Farms in the fall and can expand the program as a multidisciplinary diploma program. Students focus on hemp plants, not high-grade marijuana (THC).
After announcing the course, Nugatuk Valley Community College spoke to the medical distribution centers and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Center in New Haven, Tuchi, about visitors or guest speakers. He said law enforcement agencies are interested in legal entities.
“We are now on the industrial stage in the state,” Tucio said. Over the past two years, we have seen our neighbors, for example, Massachusetts, looking for us, and it is really important for our students to have a reputation for cannabis development and development, so they can sell themselves to these farmers.
An average of 60 to 70 students in the Naugatuk Valley Community College, the main campus in Waterbury and another campus in Danbury, are in the horticulture program. About 20% transition to the Yukon program.
“Most of them go straight to the field,” said Tuciyo.
Focus on science
The subject is one of the students selected in the Fruit and Vegetable Program. Only for fruit and vegetables students. Although there are no preconditions, it is recommended that students take a greenhouse lesson before or during this class, Tuchio said.
“We have vulnerable young students who want to ensure the integrity of the academic process and the scientific participation of the curriculum,” he said. . “It is very important for us to always look at it through that lens. This is a teaching of horticultural science, and it is intended to be guided in that way. ”
As of Tuesday afternoon, 19 students had been registered. There is space for 24 students. The course is presented as a pilot and is all online.
Tuciyo said he sees a lot of potential in the industry. If the course is successful, the college may consider creating a cannabis certificate similar to that of Kinebawg or issuing special certificates in other horticultural fields.
“I don’t want to portray this as a magical plant that heals all kinds of taxes,” he said. But it offers many good jobs.