Ili Valley
More actions
| Ili Valley | |
|---|---|
| 伊犁河谷 (Yīlí hégǔ) | |
| ActiveGrown here in 2000 or later | |
| Hierarchy | |
| Growing Region | Northern Xinjiang |
| Geography | |
| Country | China |
| Province/State | Xinjiang |
| Prefecture | Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 43.91, 81.28 |
| Landscape | |
| Area | 53,800 km² |
| Terrain | The valley of the Ili and its side valleys in Yining City and the counties of Yining, Huocheng, Qapqal, Nilka, Xinyuan, Gongliu, Tekes and Zhaosu, with Horgos and Kokdala; approximately those units |
| Growing history | |
| Documentation | |
| Appellations | 0 |
| Accessions | 0 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Ili Valley is a cannabis growing area in the valley of the Ili in Xinjiang, China, in the part of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture that lies between the ranges of the Tian Shan along the frontier with Kazakhstan. It is part of the Northern Xinjiang growing region. Cannabis grows wild in the valley: a study of 2022 by Liu Ruoxuan and colleagues, made on wild plants of the Ili valley, sampled them in woodland, maize fields, wheat fields and by a road.[1] Police and border police in the valley's counties reported clearing wild stands in every summer from 2022 to 2026, among them more than 250,000 plants at Aketubieke town, Gongliu County, in June 2026.[2]
Wild cannabis in the valley
Liu and colleagues write that cannabis is cultivated or wild throughout China and commonly wild in Xinjiang; their subject was the wild cannabis of the Ili valley. Wild cannabis, they write, is easily seen on abandoned land, sandbanks, forest edges, ditch sides and meadows.[1] Their plots lay at Queerpan (雀儿盘) village in Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County. The county has a mild, dry continental climate, with 222 mm of rain a year and 177 frost-free days. In July 2019 the authors set out plots in four habitats (woodland, a maize field, a wheat field and a roadside) and took leaves, stems and roots for analysis of their carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. The plants had then reached the stage at which hemp is harvested for fibre. The authors found that the plants' growth was limited by nitrogen, and advised control of the wild cannabis in maize fields, where it grows fast, to lessen its effect on the crop.[1]
Clearances
Huocheng and Horgos. In June 2022 the border police at Horgos cleared more than 8,000 plants in fields, after ruling out planting.[3] On 7 June 2022 the Goukouchuan police station of the Huocheng reclamation area of the Fourth Division found a stand growing at random with no sign of planting, and cleared more than 5,000 plants.[4]
Qapqal. In a report of 4 September 2024 the Hainuke border police station said that a resident had found plants at the edge of a field. From inquiries and the way the plants grew, the police ruled out planting, and they cleared more than 3,000.[5] On 30 August 2024 more than 20,000 plants were cleared by field roads in the county, where they were found to be growing naturally.[6]
Zhaosu. On 21 June 2022 the police of the Zhaosu reclamation area, with the 77th Regiment and the local courts and procuratorate, found large stands of wild cannabis on waste ground beside the fields of the regiment's 10th company and in the woodland belt of its 6th company camp, and cleared more than 80,000 plants.[7] In August 2024 the county's drug-control brigade found a large stand at Xiate township, growing at random with no sign of planting, and cleared more than 10,000 plants with the township government.[8] In June 2025 the town police of Zhaosu searched field margins, empty factories, unused courtyards and the hills, and pulled up more than 4,200 plants.[9]
Tekes. On 23 September 2022 the Karadala police station of Tekes County found plants on waste ground near a village. The stand was growing at random and showed no sign of planting; the police cleared more than 1,500 plants.[10]
Gongliu. On 18 June 2026 the county's drug-control office and its forestry and grassland bureau took forest rangers and villagers through the mountain forests, waste slopes, field margins, riverbeds and ditches of Aketubieke town. The head of the bureau's public-forest office said that the day's work had cleared more than 250,000 wild plants.[2]
Yining. On 28 May 2025 the Yingeer police station of Yining City found wild plants in the fields of Jieliangzi village, Yingeer town, and removed them.[11] On 20 July 2026, after a report from a resident, the same station cleared more than 300 plants about 1 m tall by a road in the town; it found no sign of planting and kept the place under watch.[12]
River banks. On 19 July 2023 the Xiaomazha border police station of the Ili border detachment found more than 20,000 plants on a river bank, with no sign of planting, and cleared them.[13]
Herbarium specimen
A sheet in the herbarium of Moscow University, Larionov 65 (1876), was collected by the river Chulak-terek in the environs of Kuldja (Ghulja, today's Yining) on 26 June 1876.[14][15]
Appellations
No appellation pages exist for this growing area yet.
Accessions
No accessions documented yet.
Recent news
No news items are recorded for this growing area yet.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Liu, Ruoxuan; Cui, Dong; Zhao, Yang; Liu, Haijun; Liu, Wenxin; Zhang, Jing (2022). 伊犁河谷不同生境下大麻根茎叶生态化学计量特征 [Ecological stoichiometry of the roots, stems and leaves of cannabis in different habitats of the Ili River valley]. 环境化学 [Environmental Chemistry] (in 中文). 41 (5): 1639–1648. doi:10.7524/j.issn.0254-6108.2020122803.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "全域踏查除毒源 守护巩留绿水青山" [Surveying the whole county to clear drug plants in Gongliu]. 网易 (in 中文). 巩留县融媒体中心. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "铲除野生大麻 开展禁毒宣传" [Eradicating wild cannabis and carrying out drug-control publicity] (in 中文). 霍尔果斯市人民政府. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "见到大麻快报警，非法种植会判刑" [Report cannabis when you see it: illegal planting is punished]. 兵团广播电视台 (in 中文). 8 June 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 刘鑫 (4 September 2024). "铲除野生大麻 清除源头"毒"害" [Clearing wild cannabis at the source]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 邓宇 (4 September 2024). "新疆伊犁："毒草"横行 警民携手铲除野生大麻原植物2万余株" [Ili, Xinjiang: police and residents clear more than 20,000 wild cannabis plants]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 杨倩莉 (28 June 2022). "昭垦公安局联合驻地单位开展野生大麻禁种铲毒行动" [Zhaosu reclamation-area police and local units clear wild cannabis]. 第四师可克达拉市 (in 中文). 新疆生产建设兵团第四师可克达拉市. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 韩毅 (31 August 2024). "昭苏县成功铲除野生大麻10000余株" [Zhaosu County clears more than 10,000 wild cannabis plants]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "昭苏公安成功铲除4000余株野生大麻" [Zhaosu police clear more than 4,000 wild cannabis plants]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). 21 June 2025. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "百日行动丨特克斯公安铲除销毁野生大麻1500余株" [Hundred-day campaign: Tekes police clear and destroy more than 1,500 wild cannabis plants]. 新华网新疆频道 (in 中文). 26 September 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 麦尔哈巴·玉努斯江 (29 May 2025). "铲除野生大麻 清除潜在毒害" [Wild cannabis cleared]. 伊犁新闻网 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 麦尔哈巴·玉努斯江 (22 July 2026). "警民联手铲除野生大麻" [Police and residents clear wild cannabis together]. 伊犁新闻网 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 周航生 (20 July 2023). "新疆伊犁：铲除野生大麻 清除危害源头" [Ili, Xinjiang: wild cannabis cleared]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "Specimen MW0736231: Cannabis sativa L." Moscow Digital Herbarium. Moscow State University. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 1697853650: Cannabis sativa L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.