All you wrote here is funny, I have nothing to do with your rich assuming fantasy not even close, and my nick has nothing to do with the strain.
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Hybrids found by the police in the Parvati valley!
- Thread starter Mustafunk
- Start date
All you wrote here is funny, I have nothing to do with your rich assuming fantasy not even close, and my nick has nothing to do with the strain.
Well, if I may...
To make it short, there is a world of differences between what you call Parvati "hemp" and what we call "hemp" in the Western world.
Until the prohibition set in with its load of restrictions, "poly-use" strains were a common thing in the Western Himalaya. By "poly-use" I mean use of fibers for ropes and whatever, seeds for food and of course flowers/resin for the resin and flowers, all of these from one and single plant. Unfortunately their range have been greatly restricted and such strains still survive in some valleys of Western Nepal.
For Parvati valley, most of the import comes with seasonal workers (or seasonal hand-rubbers might I say), coming from Western Nepal and Kumaon area to work on commercial exploitations, usually leased to Western people.
As for the wild "hemp", again no comparison with the Western idea of "hemp". Most cultivated plants actually do come from seeds picked from wild selected plants (they flower from like mid-June if not earlier to late November, even late december-early january for some really special kumaoni strains), which are then grown, selected, reproduced and so on just as every does everywhere.
A good jungli charas (made from wild plants) will beat most begij charas (from cultivated plants).
Two of the strongest hash I've smoked in my entire life where jungli charas. One made by an old lady from Rumsu in Kullu valley which was a total "day-killer", super-potent but totally paralizing if not zombifying. One joint after breakfast would "ruin" the day, leaving you unable to do anything at all, except maybe smoke more...
Second one from same area, made by an old man who as I told was the last in the said area to know how to make it (which plants to select). It has the most astonishing apple perfume and when smoking it was just like smoking apples, hmm sweet, fresh and oh so tasty! Electric and super-uplifting, going psychedelic with increased dosages. I scored that one the evening before leaving and as I finished preparring and swallowing my pellets, while smoking a lot of joints, I eventually swallowed like 1/4gr of this jungli apple charas and went on my way, hopped in the bus and to Delhi !
About a tad less than 2 hours aftr leaving Istarted to notice something coming, the little bit of apple resin was showing up.
"Wow, is it this little bit of resin I'm feeling here? wow..."
"Damn it's strong..."
"Agh, a pellet has probably unwrapped, no, not that!!"
"Seriously??"
"Oh man, could two pellets have unwrapped??"
And it kept going, for about 3 hours it's been rush after rush, going subtlely stronger every few ones, until I reached plateau. Almost felt like mushrooms actually, baaaha! Unfortunately the set & setting was such that I didn't enjoyed it to the fullest as the thought of unwrapped pellets in my stomach had me go a bit worried. But no, all pellets were fine, it was just that little chunk of hash which blew me like I've rarely been blown away.
Well, all that yap yap to tell you that the wild plants are the basis for the cultivated ones, much much more that what we know as "hemp"
Irie !
To make it short, there is a world of differences between what you call Parvati "hemp" and what we call "hemp" in the Western world.
Until the prohibition set in with its load of restrictions, "poly-use" strains were a common thing in the Western Himalaya. By "poly-use" I mean use of fibers for ropes and whatever, seeds for food and of course flowers/resin for the resin and flowers, all of these from one and single plant. Unfortunately their range have been greatly restricted and such strains still survive in some valleys of Western Nepal.
For Parvati valley, most of the import comes with seasonal workers (or seasonal hand-rubbers might I say), coming from Western Nepal and Kumaon area to work on commercial exploitations, usually leased to Western people.
As for the wild "hemp", again no comparison with the Western idea of "hemp". Most cultivated plants actually do come from seeds picked from wild selected plants (they flower from like mid-June if not earlier to late November, even late december-early january for some really special kumaoni strains), which are then grown, selected, reproduced and so on just as every does everywhere.
A good jungli charas (made from wild plants) will beat most begij charas (from cultivated plants).
Two of the strongest hash I've smoked in my entire life where jungli charas. One made by an old lady from Rumsu in Kullu valley which was a total "day-killer", super-potent but totally paralizing if not zombifying. One joint after breakfast would "ruin" the day, leaving you unable to do anything at all, except maybe smoke more...
Second one from same area, made by an old man who as I told was the last in the said area to know how to make it (which plants to select). It has the most astonishing apple perfume and when smoking it was just like smoking apples, hmm sweet, fresh and oh so tasty! Electric and super-uplifting, going psychedelic with increased dosages. I scored that one the evening before leaving and as I finished preparring and swallowing my pellets, while smoking a lot of joints, I eventually swallowed like 1/4gr of this jungli apple charas and went on my way, hopped in the bus and to Delhi !
About a tad less than 2 hours aftr leaving Istarted to notice something coming, the little bit of apple resin was showing up.
"Wow, is it this little bit of resin I'm feeling here? wow..."
"Damn it's strong..."
"Agh, a pellet has probably unwrapped, no, not that!!"
"Seriously??"
"Oh man, could two pellets have unwrapped??"
And it kept going, for about 3 hours it's been rush after rush, going subtlely stronger every few ones, until I reached plateau. Almost felt like mushrooms actually, baaaha! Unfortunately the set & setting was such that I didn't enjoyed it to the fullest as the thought of unwrapped pellets in my stomach had me go a bit worried. But no, all pellets were fine, it was just that little chunk of hash which blew me like I've rarely been blown away.
Well, all that yap yap to tell you that the wild plants are the basis for the cultivated ones, much much more that what we know as "hemp"
Irie !
Yes Jungli hemp is much different then high latitude European rope hemp. I'd estimate 5% THC give or take 5% with plus or minus 5% CBD. I'd think concentrated it makes good hashish but wouldn't want to smoke the flowers.
I think some of what people believe is wild jungli they see while backpacking is actually cultivated. The village folk collect hashish for tourists and say it's the wild plants from the mountain. It protects the people from law enforcement and makes their product more desirable.
After growing western hybrids in the Parvati Valley since the 1980s, releasing literally tons of pollen in huge fields, The Real Seed Company still lists 5 local landrace and Jungli strains for purchase. In 2018 40 year later. This should tell you all you need to know about the loss of Himalayan landrace genes. Speaking of which they have a couple strains that may finish early enough for northern latitudes.
Prohibition pushed on countries by the UN has been the real destroyer of cottage cannabis culture. I would argue that many of the potent sativas old timers are pining for were destroyed in the 70s and 80s. Thai, Columbian, and Mexican strains were casualties.
I think some of what people believe is wild jungli they see while backpacking is actually cultivated. The village folk collect hashish for tourists and say it's the wild plants from the mountain. It protects the people from law enforcement and makes their product more desirable.
After growing western hybrids in the Parvati Valley since the 1980s, releasing literally tons of pollen in huge fields, The Real Seed Company still lists 5 local landrace and Jungli strains for purchase. In 2018 40 year later. This should tell you all you need to know about the loss of Himalayan landrace genes. Speaking of which they have a couple strains that may finish early enough for northern latitudes.
Prohibition pushed on countries by the UN has been the real destroyer of cottage cannabis culture. I would argue that many of the potent sativas old timers are pining for were destroyed in the 70s and 80s. Thai, Columbian, and Mexican strains were casualties.
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Edit: I may have misunderstood your point, but anyway
this is inaccurate and misleading on several levels
for context:
Case in point:
The traditional landraces in Mexico and much of the Caribbean have been ruined. That wasn't caused by the DEA spraying, it was caused by people introducing modern strains.
The same process is underway in Parvati, albeit slowed by geographic factors and the amount of pollen flying around.
The original landrace strains cultivated in Parvati are just that - traditional cultivars. They are not the same thing as the wild/feral cannabis that grows in the region. They are the product of innumerable generations of cultivation, not simply from people picking seeds of feral plants one year to grow the next.
I have been visiting the Parvati region for years and I can tell you the presence of modern genetics has become ever more obvious in the aroma and effect of the hash.
The premise that modern strains are better, or better for the local growers, doesn't stand up.
On my most recent visit, I met an old guy who had bought Thai ganja with him and smoking that and the Parvati hash the difference was very obvious. The Thai was strong, uplifting and euphoric. By comparison, the local charas was heavy and dull, and it had that 'Dam coffeshop funk that is totally alien to the Himalaya.
To me this isn't something abstract about freezing the traditional strains in time and space. It's about keeping the good highs and aromas, and developing them. It's a hedonistic thing. And yes, ultimately there should also be an ethical element to it, about not fucking up the heritage of the traditional growers, which somewhere down the line, a few decades from now, they should have proprietorship over in an appellation controlee-type system.
The traditional genetics in the region - which very likely have been added to by outside strains such as from Nepal - aren't something pure and frozen in time. But they definitely aren't currently being improved by people bringing in modern Western strains - not on any level, either performance or product.
There's a reason why people seek out oldschool resin, and the way things are headed they will eventually not find what they looking for in Parvati charas. There's still good stuff around, don't get me wrong, but I worry about where the general trend is headed.
Just to add:
I haven't read back through this thread, so may have got the wrong idea from the post.
To clarify:
Yes, feral cannabis in the Himalaya is not potent. This is a myth. Potency comes from selection. I have smoked plenty of jungli - it can be nice, but if it's good it's the effect of genetics from nearby cultivation imo - eg Chandrakani Pass jungli or Langtang jungli.
Typical Himalayan cultivars used for charas are overall less potent than traditional ganja cultivars. Potency comes from selection for potency.
The Kumaoni strain sold as Nanda Devi showed THC in the low teens in one specimen grown in Spain. My guess this is the top end of what you will see in a Himalayan charas strain without doing further selection yourself. More typically in a field of charas plants you will be looking at mid single digits, which is why most Himalayan charas is in the 10-20% THC levels, and only stronger when exceptional or using ganja strains or modern hybrids.
Jungli
I haven't read back through this thread, so may have got the wrong idea from the post.
To clarify:
Yes, feral cannabis in the Himalaya is not potent. This is a myth. Potency comes from selection. I have smoked plenty of jungli - it can be nice, but if it's good it's the effect of genetics from nearby cultivation imo - eg Chandrakani Pass jungli or Langtang jungli.
Typical Himalayan cultivars used for charas are overall less potent than traditional ganja cultivars. Potency comes from selection for potency.
The Kumaoni strain sold as Nanda Devi showed THC in the low teens in one specimen grown in Spain. My guess this is the top end of what you will see in a Himalayan charas strain without doing further selection yourself. More typically in a field of charas plants you will be looking at mid single digits, which is why most Himalayan charas is in the 10-20% THC levels, and only stronger when exceptional or using ganja strains or modern hybrids.
Jungli
I think we mostly agree I don't feel like going through a rehash of a thread that's two years old.
After looking at the article that started this thread I searched for more. I found them leading back to the 1980s. Often combining massive opium growing along with the hybrid ganja. My thought is that these articles are planted by law enforcement to whip up prohibition efforts.
I think it's simplistic to blame one cause for the lack of locally grown genetics. So we may disagree on why these strains are so hard to find. I believe law enforcement efforts combined with the persecution worldwide directed by the UN and DEA, combined with the massive demand created by global trade have been the primary factors. The cottage industry that used to supply ganja and hashish vanished long ago. In Afghanistan and Columbia, war and superpower persecution. Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey, government persecution forced by UN. The small growers who carefully grew and harvested their plants have been replaced by large cartel run operations that have a large enough bank roll to bribe the corrupt military and politicians of their country.
I don't think in many of these places the old growers gave up their strains and purchased new ones. I think the cartels recruited regular farmers from the countryside, gave them seeds, and sent them to work. The seeds were what the cartels thought would produce the best profit.
After looking at the article that started this thread I searched for more. I found them leading back to the 1980s. Often combining massive opium growing along with the hybrid ganja. My thought is that these articles are planted by law enforcement to whip up prohibition efforts.
I think it's simplistic to blame one cause for the lack of locally grown genetics. So we may disagree on why these strains are so hard to find. I believe law enforcement efforts combined with the persecution worldwide directed by the UN and DEA, combined with the massive demand created by global trade have been the primary factors. The cottage industry that used to supply ganja and hashish vanished long ago. In Afghanistan and Columbia, war and superpower persecution. Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey, government persecution forced by UN. The small growers who carefully grew and harvested their plants have been replaced by large cartel run operations that have a large enough bank roll to bribe the corrupt military and politicians of their country.
I don't think in many of these places the old growers gave up their strains and purchased new ones. I think the cartels recruited regular farmers from the countryside, gave them seeds, and sent them to work. The seeds were what the cartels thought would produce the best profit.
