Maruf Kandahar

Maruf, Kandahar （Farm #2）. Latitude: 31 39’N 65 11’E. Altitude: 1000-1200 meters. As of August, the domesticated cannabis crops at Maruf, Kandhar had already started to transition into the flowering phase, a few early flowering males could be seen peeking from in between the crops while the females were only beginning to stretch out the internodes and new shoots to accommodate the buds. Some of the characteristics changes observed in the Maruf （Kandahar） populations as they transition out of the vegetative state includes the development of red colour on the petioles and stems （in a considerable chunk of the population） with the onset of the flowering. The plants grow in an calcareous alluvial like mix of clay and sand and silt which consists of a higher percentage of sand compared to the alluvial mix commonly observed in the north western Himalayan （India/Nepal） foothills. The farmer （Haji Agha Khan） who owns this particular farm documented here, employs a variety of selection criterion to narrow down a few different types of plants that they believe makes for the best Hashish. Their selection process is quite opposite to what most farmers do, since they make their selections in terms of males which will be left in the field to make the seeds with any female at random, as they very meticulously uproot all the nonselections before the females begin to produce viable stigma to catch the pollen. As per the farmer who owns this farm, he brought these seeds from Andrabi District （North East Afghanistan） 15 years ago and have been since propagating and selecting specifically for plants that grow very tall and robust reaching as high as 12-14 ft. with certain plants also expressing purple, black leaves. The farm is enclosed by an apple orchard from all sides and receives organic inputs to fertilize the crops. The farmer does his selections from the male side, by leaving approximately 5 males for every 100 females present in the field for pollination. The males are selected