Mazar-i-Sharif #2

Description

Genetics: North Afghan Cannabis Landrace – Mazar-i-Sharif
Sourcing: Landrace Genetics, Balkh Province, Afghanistan (2022)
Purpose: Charas (sieved resin), Bhang
Latitude: 36° N
Harvest: October

A newly collected Indica landrace accession direct from northern Afghanistan, cultivated in rural areas outside the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh Province.

This accession turned out to be a classic Indica with broad leaflets and semidwarf, bushy architecture.

This semidwarf type of north Afghan landrace gained renown in the West during the early decades of the American and Dutch underground cannabis industry as ‘Mazar-i-Sharif’, as in the latter link to a 1985 seed catalogue. But note that the accession in the catalogue was obtained in Khyber Province, Pakistan and relied on information from sources in Khyber too. That’s a long way from Mazar-i-Sharif itself.

After several years of selective breeding for use as sinsemilla, the semidwarf-type Mazar-i-Sharif likely formed the basis for many famous western Indica—Sativa hybrids, perhaps including Skunk #1.

Afghan cannabis farmers themselves refer to a different, much larger landrace as ‘Mazari-i-Sharif’, aka ‘Mazari’ or ‘Balkhi’. You can also read about this larger type of landrace at the blog: Mazar-i-Sharif Landrace – 1970s.