Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. last week announced that its 50 per cent joint cannabis venture with Village Farms International, called Pure Sunfarms, has exercised an option to acquire from Village Farms a second 1.1-million-square-foot (25-acre) of greenhouse space in East Ladner called Delta 2.

It’s adjacent to Pure Sunfarms’ existing 1.1-million-square-foot cannabis grow operation called Delta 3.

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In a news releases the company states Pure Sunfarms expects to reach its annualized full production rate of approximately 75,000 kilograms by mid-year at Delta 3 and expects to double its overall production on completion of the conversion of Delta 2.

“We could not be more pleased with the progress and production of Delta 3 and this significant expansion of Pure Sunfarms to 2.2 million square feet of production space, making it one of the largest single cannabis cultivation facilities in Canada,” said Dr. Avtar Dhillon, president and executive chairman of Emerald.

In an interview with the Optimist last year, Village Farms founder and CEO Michael DeGiglio said it had been an overwhelming challenge to stay profitable growing greenhouse vegetables, which is why they made the switch to cannabis and entered into the joint venture with Emerald.

According to Village Farms, the joint venture is a transformational opportunity to grow “a substantially more profitable agricultural product.”

Pure Sunfarms also has an option to acquire even more greenhouse space at the site with the Delta 1 portion at Village Farms, which covers well over two million square feet.