Hunza
More actions
| Hunza | |
|---|---|
| ActiveRecorded as grown here since 2000 | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Karakoram |
| Geography | |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Province/State | Gilgit-Baltistan |
| District | Hunza District |
| Coordinates | 36.32, 74.66 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 11,350 km² |
| Terrain | Valley of the Hunza river and the mountains on either side, in the Karakoram; approximately Hunza District |
| Growing history | |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 1 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Hunza is a landrace cannabis growing area in Hunza District, in the Karakoram growing region. The district is administered by Pakistan as part of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Kashmir region has been disputed between India and Pakistan since the partition of 1947.[1] In 1974 the United States Department of Agriculture received hemp seed collected about 16 km south-west of Karimabad, with a note that it was used as a source of oil and was called thunj locally.[2] In 2024 seed from the valley that its donor calls a charas landrace reached the United States genebank.[3]
Geography
Hunza District covers 10,109 km². The 2023 census counted 65,497 people there, the second-smallest population among the ten districts of Gilgit-Baltistan.[4]: 3
The Karakoram Conference of 1938, which fixed the limits of the range by the rivers round it, took in the mountains of Hunza west of the Hunza river as far as the Karambar and Ishkoman. North of the Great Karakoram it named two mountain systems in Hunza territory, one on each side of the river: the Lupghar group and the Ghujerab mountains.[5]
Cannabis
The hemp seed of 1974 was one of eight lots from Pakistan collected by P. F. Knowles, of the Department of Agronomy and Range Science at the University of California, Davis. The lots were received on 24 April 1974. Its entry in the United States plant inventory, P.I. 390147, Cannabis sativa, reads: "About 16 km southwest of Karimabad, Hunza District. Used as a source of oil. Locally called Thunj." The same consignment held safflower from Karimabad village (sown in April and harvested in September) and seed from the bazaar at Gilgit.[2]
A survey of the medicinal plants of Gilgit-Baltistan, made in six districts between January 2017 and May 2018, recorded cannabis under the local name thoonch at Hunza, where its seed is used directly.[6]: 3, 16 Seed collected in the valley by Angus Pretty, near Karimabad, was received by the United States National Plant Germplasm System in August 2024 as G 33899, under the name Hunza Valley. The donor calls it a charas landrace.[3] The Vibes Collective catalogued a landrace under the name Hunza in its strain guide.[7]
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| VIB-PAK-GIL-0100000001 | Hunza General Population |
Recent news
No news items are recorded for this growing area yet.
See also
References
- ↑ "Kashmir". Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 October 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hyland, Howard L. (March 1976). Plant Inventory No. 182: Plant Material Introduced January 1 to December 31, 1974 (Nos. 384428 to 391684) (PDF). Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Agriculture. p. 178. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "G 33899, Cannabis sativa L., Hunza Valley". GRIN-Global. USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. Retrieved 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Statistical & Research Cell, Planning and Development Department (2025). Gilgit-Baltistan at a Glance 2025 (PDF) (Report) (8th ed.). Government of Gilgit-Baltistan. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Mason, Kenneth, ed. (1938). "Karakoram Conference report". The Himalayan Journal. 10. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
- ↑ Salim, Muhammad Asad; Ranjitkar, Sailesh; Hart, Robbie; Khan, Tika; Ali, Sajid; Kiran, Chandni; Parveen, Asma; Batool, Zahra; Bano, Shanila; Xu, Jianchu (28 January 2019). "Regional trade of medicinal plants has facilitated the retention of traditional knowledge: case study in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 15 6. doi:10.1186/s13002-018-0281-0.
- ↑ "Hunza". Vibes Collective Strainguide. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2026.