Bolikhamsai
More actions
| Bolikhamsai | |
|---|---|
| Bolikhamxay, Borikhamxay | |
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Gene Pool | Lao-Isan Gene Pool |
| Regional Complex | Mekong Basin |
| Growing Region | Central Laos |
| Geography | |
| Country | Laos |
| Province/State | Bolikhamsai Province |
| Coordinates | 18.53, 104.63 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 8,800 km² |
| Terrain | Uplands of the northern Annamite Range on the border with Vietnam; approximately Viengthong, Khamkeut and Xaychamphone districts |
| Growing history | |
| Dated accessions | 2019–2025 |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 6 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Bolikhamsai is a cannabis growing area in Bolikhamsai Province, Laos, drawn on the province's three eastern districts: Viengthong, Khamkeut and Xaychamphone. The three districts border the Vietnamese provinces of Hà Tĩnh and Nghệ An. It is part of the Central Laos growing region. In late 2021 and early 2022 the provincial police destroyed hundreds of cannabis fields in the three districts.[1] The Real Seed Company sells seed of lines from the highlands of the province.[2]
Reports of cultivation
In April 2012 an officer of the Vietnamese border guard in Hà Tĩnh, who had worked on joint operations with the police of Bolikhamsai, said that it was the cannabis harvest season and that the growers were mainly Hmong on the Lao side, who planted it secretly among other crops in the high mountains. He said that traffickers from other Southeast Asian countries drove cars into Hmong villages to trade for the crop, offering a new car for a tonne of dried cannabis.[3]
At Oudomxay village in Viengthong district, police and soldiers destroyed 4,447 plants on eight plots covering 4.2 hectares on 2 November 2021.[4][5] On 23 November they found 17 more plots around the village, with about 10,180 plants on 9.9 hectares.[6][4] A man thought to own one of the plots was arrested after each operation.[5][6] On 3 December police cut down 2.3 hectares more on eight plots at three places around the village and burned the plants.[4] The Vientiane Times reported that the local authorities were trying to stop the cultivation and that the crop was believed to be widely trafficked in the district.[7]
The provincial police campaign that followed found 140 hectares of cannabis in Khamkeut district, 32.2 hectares of it on 45 plots at Nongkok village, and 53 plots covering 30.05 hectares in Xaychamphone district. The police said that the plots had been planted secretly by local people. Dry fields were burned once cut, and fields still green were sprayed with oil before burning. By 5 January 2022 the fields in Khamkeut and Xaychamphone had been burned and the burning in Viengthong was still under way.[1]
Seed lines
The Real Seed Company sells lines from the province under the names Highland Lao, with numbered selections, and Hmong Ganja. It writes that ganja growing around towns such as Thakhek on the Mekong grew through the 1980s and that most of it has since moved into the highlands of Bolikhamsai, where the best ganja is irrigated while it flowers, in the dry months from December to March.[2][8] Its Hmong Ganja listing describes a line grown by a Hmong household in the province, in the northern Annamite Range. The company writes that Hmong villages have long grown hemp for cordage and cloth and have only recently begun to grow ganja, through contact with Lao and Thai growers.[8] Seed of one of the lines, Highland Lao #1, collected in Bolikhamsai about 2019, became accession G 33707 of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System in August 2023.[9]
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected | Locality |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120190001 | Highland Lao General Population 2019 | ||
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120220001 | Highland Lao #4 General Population 2022 | ||
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120230001 | Highland Lao #5 General Population 2023 | ||
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120240001 | Highland Lao #6 General Population 2024 | ||
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120240002 | Hmong Ganja General Population 2024 | ||
| RSC-LAO-BOL-0120250001 | Highland Lao #7 General Population 2025 |
Recent news
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See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Quốc Khánh (5 January 2022). "Phát hiện thêm diện tích lớn trồng cần sa dọc biên giới Lào - Việt Nam" [More large areas of cannabis found along the Laos–Vietnam border]. Báo Hà Tĩnh (in Tiếng Việt). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Highland Lao #7". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
- ↑ Hữu Anh (13 April 2012). "Thu 1 tấn cần sa từ Lào vào Việt Nam" [One tonne of cannabis from Laos seized on its way into Vietnam]. Giáo dục Việt Nam (in Tiếng Việt). Dân Việt. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Phương Đặng (8 December 2021). "Cần sa được trồng tràn lan tại Bolikhamxay, Lào" [Cannabis grown widely in Bolikhamxay, Laos]. Báo Hà Tĩnh (in Tiếng Việt). Retrieved 18 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Authorities in Laos Destroy 4.2 Hectare Marijuana Farm". Laotian Times. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Authorities Destroy 9.9 Hectares of Marijuana Fields in Laos". Laotian Times. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Times Reporters (8 December 2021). "Borikhamxay police weed out marijuana crop". Vientiane Times. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Hmong Ganja". The Real Seed Company. Retrieved 16 September 2026.
- ↑ "G 33707, Cannabis sativa L., Highland Lao #1". GRIN-Global. USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. Retrieved 3 October 2026.