Where was cannabis first grown?

Many enthusiasts often wonder where cannabis actually comes from. Where was cannabis first grown? Well, one theory is that cannabis was first grown around 12,000 years ago. At least that is the current view of a school of scientists, including eminent biologists. Proponents of this line of thought continue to believe that cannabis is not just for consumption as a Food but also as hemp, most likely for recreation.

Photo by Matteo Paganelli, courtesy Unsplash

Contradicting origins

However, the origin of weed is still something that has baffled many botanists. Many of them believe that the first domestic use of cannabis, or cannabis sativa (the scientific name), began in Central Asia. However, a recent study by Science Advances suggests that the location was actually East Asia. They indicate that all of the cannabis strains found today have an ancestral gene pool that originated in what is now China. This pool can still stand in place both in the wild and in its cultivated front.

The scientists who conducted the study tracked growing the herb as a useful crop for various purposes in the early Neolithic – 12,000 years ago. The researchers went on to claim that the plant’s most likely uses are for fiber and medicine. However, the cultivation of the crop, especially because of its psychoactive properties, dates back to 4,000 years. According to the researchers involved in the study, it took place in parallel with the spread of its cultivation in the Middle East and Europe.

Where does cannabis actually come from?

Other scientists who did not participate in the study found the results very interesting. The common perception is that Neolithic societies were primarily concerned with food. But the suggestion that fiber and recovery were also important is something new from the study.

The results of a study from 2016 also name China and Japan as the earliest locations for the deliberate cultivation of the crop. However, many botanists believed that eastern central Asia was, in all likelihood, the origin of the plant, as the plant still grows in the wild throughout the region.

The latest study used genetic sequencing and identified what researchers call the “single origin of domestication”. As they put it:

“By sequencing genetic samples from the plant, they found that the species was most likely domesticated in the early Neolithic. They said their conclusion was supported by pottery and other archaeological evidence from the same period discovered in what is now China, Japan, and Taiwan. ”

However, mainstream scientists were skeptical of the study’s proposals. According to archaeological evidence, it wasn’t until about 7,500 years ago that people began to use cannabis as a dietary fiber or medicinal and recreational substance. Hence, they advise caution before jumping to conclusions and suggesting a more comprehensive study with larger samples.

New theories

One of the conservation genetics researchers revealed that the new place of origin theory is based on observational data provided by wild cannabis plants in the area. The biologist went on to explain that the plants considered in the study were not completely wild. But instead it was plants that had escaped captivity. As a result, they had adapted to the wild environment again. Another point made by the researcher is that cannabis deserves the nickname weed because it can grow almost anywhere.

Photo of CV12 courtesy of Pexels

The study’s lead researcher said the results could give some boost to renewed interest in hemp and China’s efforts to breed new types of fiber. The study considered 82 samples, either as leaves or seeds, from around the world. So it included cannabis strains known for their fiber, as well as North American and European breeds. The latter contained a significant amount of the mind-reactive cannabis component THC.

The study first extracted cannabis DNA in the plant’s genes, which was obtained from the samples before being sequenced in a Swiss laboratory. In addition, they re-analyzed downloaded sequence data from a further 28 samples. Such an analysis revealed that the wild strains were indeed once domesticated cannabis plants. Upon further examination, they found that they were the closest to both cultivated and wild Chinese tribes in terms of ancestral gene pool. Another important clue from the broad study is that purely wild precursors of Cannabis sativa have become extinct.

The fact is that in much of the world there are no legal sanctions against the plant and its uses. It has also created significant gaps in our knowledge of how they were domesticated. Much of the difficulty also lies in the lack of a thorough understanding of plant domestication. Fundamental predictions that scientists can make about natural divergence hold up little in the face of human preferred selection. Such divergence can be due to both pollinators and habitats. But humans ARE often that habitat creator and pollinator.