// Definition
A locally adapted, traditional cannabis variety that has developed over centuries of natural and human selection in a specific geographic region, without modern hybrid breeding. Land races — Thai, Colombian, Afghan, Indian, and many more — represent the original genetic building blocks from which all modern hybrid cannabis is derived. Their preservation is considered urgent as hybridisation and habitat loss threaten to erase these foundational genetics permanently.
// From the Episode
Robert Connell Clarke emphasised the urgency of land race preservation in Episode 13. He described the "magic cigar box" concept — old seeds sitting in collectors' drawers and storage containers that contain DNA from varieties that may no longer exist in the wild. Clarke's Cannabis DNA Genome Project uses Next Generation sequencing technology to analyse approximately 1,000 dispensary samples alongside DNA extracted from these old seeds, mapping the genetic relationships between modern hybrids and their land race ancestors. He praised the counterculture's open sharing of genetics over decades as the engine behind enormous breeding progress: "Look at all the progress that's been made... our counterculture has done off the grid completely for three, four decades."
// Source
Ep. 013 Hash Church XIII →