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CANNABIS FEATURE

DETERMINING THE DIVERSITY IN

SELECTED CANNABIS LANDRACES

BY WS JANSEN VAN RENSBURG, CP DU PLOOY, SO AMOO, KN MOKGOHLOA, MM MOFOKENG AND R PIENAAR, ARC VEGETABLE,
INDUSTRIAL AND MEDICINAL PLANTS.

A symposium of the South African Plant Breeders Association (SAPBA) was recently
held in Stellenbosch. It is a bi-annual event, giving all involved in the plant breeding

sector an opportunity to share ideas and expand the science of plant breeding.
The presentation below was given by Dr. Willem Jansen van Rensburg.

annabis has a long history of evidence claims that C. indica has a more available internationally and they are used
medicinal and industrial use in many calming effect and C. sativa has a more to a large extent by cannabis breeders
Ccultures, dating back thousands of energising effect, however there are worldwide. Very little is known about the
years. Surviving texts from ancient India many other factors involved in creating diversity that exists within and between
confirm that the plant’s psychoactive the recreational and medical effects the local cannabis strains and landraces.
properties were recognised by the ancient of a specific cannabis strain. A third Furthermore, there is no conclusive way to
Indians and that their doctors used it for species, Cannabis ruderalis, has limited distinguish between local landraces. The
treating a variety of illnesses and ailments. psychogenic properties, but contributes same landrace can have different names
The ancient Greeks used it to dress wounds the auto-flowering genes to cannabis in different regions or on the other hand,
and sores on their horses and in humans. genetics. Cannabis is dioecious, where different landraces from different regions
In the medieval Islamic world, Arabic the male (Figure 1) and female flowers can have the same name.
physicians made use of its diuretic, anti- (Figure 2) are produced on different
emetic, anti-epileptic, anti-inflammatory, plants. The cannabinoids are produced The ARC (Agricultural Research Council)
analgesic and antipyretic properties. mainly in the trichomes (Figure 3) on the has undertaken a study to determine
female inflorescences known as colas. The initial diversity within and between local
The use of cannabis in medicine began to cannabinoid production in male plants is cannabis strains and landraces, and has
decline by the end of the 19th century due very low. Furthermore, pollination and seed collected these from various sources.
to difficulty in controlling dosages and the set in the cola also have a negative impact Ninety individual plants from eight
rise in popularity of synthetic and opium- on cannabinoid content and production. landraces were selected and grown under
derived drugs. Cannabis began to attract similar conditions. Individual plants from
renewed interest as medicine in the 1970s In 1996, California became the first U.S. state these landraces were described using
and 1980s due to its use by cancer and to legalise medical cannabis in defiance of selected non-destructive descriptors from
AIDS patients who reported relief of pain, federal law. In 2001, Canada became the the International Union for the Protection
the side effects of chemotherapy and the first country to adopt a system regulating of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) cannabis
wasting syndrome. The global medical the medical use of cannabis. Countries descriptor list.
cannabis market was estimated at US$ that allow the medical use of whole-plant
8,926.6 million in 2020 and it is estimated cannabis include Australia, Canada, Chile, Varying degrees of variation between and
to reach US$ 49,116.4 million by 2028. Colombia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, within landraces were observed for the
the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal and descriptors. Leaf and leaflet morphology
The cannabidiol (CBD) industry is one of Uruguay. showed a high variation between and
the fastest growing industries globally, within the landrace. Clear differences
however the South African market size is Increased production can also be seen in the plant architecture
unknown. Cannabis is also a very good fibre The decriminalisation of cannabis for although it is not one of the recognised
crop and the fibre is used for paper, textiles, personal and medicinal use has spurred UPOV descriptors. The data showed that
rope, bioplastics, insulation, biofuel, and an increased interest in the production of there is just as much variation within
even car seats and dashboards. Apparently, cannabis. South African cannabis strains landraces as between landraces (Figure
the original Levi jeans were primarily are sought after worldwide for their 4). These results are confirmed with
made from hemp sailcloth for gold miners recreational and medicinal values. However, preliminary DNA analysis using simple
in California, and some army uniforms the decriminalisation of cannabis has also sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Strategies
are made of hemp material. The global lead to an influx of foreign cannabis strains need to be devised to identify and
industrial hemp market was estimated at that can potentially threaten the generic describe a specific landrace and these then
USD 5.66 billion in 2020 and is projected to integrity of the local strains and landraces. need to be conserved to maintain their
reach USD 27.72 billion by 2028, with China Cannabis is wind-pollinated and pollen can genetic integrity. At the moment, various
as the largest producer. be blown by the wind over large distances, organisations such as the Indigenous
leading to the pollination of local cannabis Knowledge Systems Office and National
There are two cannabis species, Cannabis landraces with foreign pollen. Southern Heritage Council are trying to identify and
indica and Cannabis sativa, which produce African cannabis is also very popular conserve the indigenous knowledge and
useful amounts of psychoactive and abroad. There are several variants of Durban genetic diversity associated with local
medicinal cannabinoids. Anecdotal Poison, Swazi Skunk and Malawi Gold now cannabis. n

24 Landscape SA • Issue 115 2022