Escondido, California, Aug 30, 2018 (Newsfile Corp via COMTEX) -- MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA INC. (otc pink:MCOA) ("MCOA" or the "Company"), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, and its joint venture partner Global Hemp Group Inc. (cse:GHG) (otc pink:GBHPF) (GHG) (the "Partners") are pleased to provide an update on their CBD hemp farming joint venture in New Brunswick, Canada (the "Project").

Dryer InstallationDrying of the biomass is an important first step in the extraction of the cannabinoids from the hemp plant. The partners are pleased to announce that the Project's industrial scale dryer from Cann Systems was delivered last week and has now been installed.

The dryer holds multiple bins of material, for a total processing capacity of just over one tonne of fresh hemp biomass per load. Initial testing is in progress and will be completed by the end of this week. Once the biomass has been dried from this year's harvest, it will be stored until the implementation of the Cannabis Act on Oct. 17, 2018, at which time the biomass can be legally sold for extraction. Health Canada has recently issued a new Class Exemption to the Industrial Hemp Regulations that allows hemp cultivation license holders to legally harvest, dry and store flowers, leaves and branches prior to the passage of the Cannabis Act. Management is currently in discussions with potential offtakers for selling the dried biomass in bulk, as well as exploring potential strategies for toll extraction and the marketing and distribution of processed and refined oils.

Innovation in the Hemp IndustryIt is now nearing harvest time at the New Brunswick Hemp Project. To maximize profit, it is important to harvest as much of the higher CBD content flowers and leaves as possible, without undue amounts of the low-to-no CBD straw (the stalk). This year's drought has complicated matters, as the hemp plants have tended to be shorter than usual, and the weeds are taller, as they were able to get a head start before the hemp began growing, although the hemp is still displaying very healthy and weighty inflorescence. These issues that are perceived as problems as they occur may benefit the hemp plants, which tend to produce more biomass as a result of stress from competition with weeds and the effects of the drought.

In order to succeed in the hemp industry, a certain amount of ingenuity and innovation is required more often than not. Our farming group is a good example of this ingenuity. Sometimes repurposing existing equipment on hand will work to achieve the required result. To combat the higher than normal weed height and to maximize the value of the harvest by taking just the most valuable parts of the hemp plant, a small harvesting trial was conducted by one of our farmers using an OXBO bean harvester. The bean harvester is able to strip the plant of all leaves and inflorescence, while picking up very little straw, which is ideal for this year's crop. Based on the positive results of this trial, the bean harvester will be used to complete the harvest of the entire 125 acres of hemp cultivated under the joint venture project with MCOA this year.

In non-drought years, other harvesting tools will be required and the innovative farmers of our group have already begun strategizing on potential solutions that will be applicable next year when the Partners move forward with an aggressive expansion strategy to significantly increase CBD acreage, as well as fully exploit the whole hemp plant and process the straw for industrial applications.

New Research CollaborationThe drought in northeast New Brunswick has not affected all fields uniformly. One of our fields is reported by DAAF field agrologists as "one of the finest of the province." Aside from the obvious economic benefit in terms of increased yields, this field offers the opportunity to contrast high and low performing plants of a given variety in the same location, shedding some light on the role of plant nutrition in explaining the performance of hemp plants. Dr. Ron Smith from University of New Brunswick will spearhead a research project focused on the issue. The Partners and the National Research Council have committed to provide financial support for the study.