Dakshinkali

Description

Genetics: Himalayan ‘Mountain Ganja’ Cannabis Landrace”
Sourcing: The Real Seed Company, Nepal Himalaya, 2021 Harvest
Purpose: ‘Ganja’ (bud) and garda charas (sieved resin)
Latitude: 28° N
Harvest: October
Height: 2 – 5 metres outdoors
Aroma: Floral, ganja, spicy, herbal
Characteristics: Soaring high, hardy, humidity tolerant
Classification: C. sativa subsp. indica var. himalayensis x C. sativa subsp. indica var. indica
Grow Type: Greenhouse or outdoors

A potent Nepali cannabis landrace of the type now cultivated for production of ‘mountain ganja’ and garda charas in alpine areas of Central and Mid-West Nepal.

This is a distinct type of crop from the two other main types of domesticate found in Nepal, which are the multipurpose Himalayan seed-fibre-charas plants of alpine areas and the true ganja domesticates of the tropics. Seeds of this ‘mountain ganja’ type are smaller than typical Himalayan multipurpose plants but potency is markedly higher. However, this crop is not true ganja: bud is often as not seeded; plants are much earlier maturing; and architecture is more irregular.

Sourced in a region closely connected to the Terai, these populations may have been affected by the large-scale ganja cultivation introduced to lowland Nepal by Indian groups in the late 1930s, following the collapse of the Trans-Himalayan charas trade. Perhaps the mountain ganja type originates from hybridization between tropical ganja landraces and the early maturing wild-type stands of alpine Nepal. Notably, ganja cultivation in the Terai dates back to at least the 18th Century.