The negatively correlation between latitude and THC and CBD contents supported by a study reported that latitude decreases can result in cannabinoids level reduction, and plants from high latitudes exhibited a low ∆9-THC. Moreover, this study indicated that the populations at the high elevation showed a trend towards lower concentrations of THC and CBD. For example, Sam-01 at 1858 m above sea level had lower cannabinoids, and Dez01, Dez-02, and Bsh-01 at a low elevation had higher amounts of THC and CBD compared to other locations studied. The two populations located in the warmest state of Iran, including Dez- 01 and Dez-02, had the highest concentrations of THC, consistent with the positive effect of temperature on cannabinoid accumulation and growth. Overall, these results showed that environment is also likely to play a role in cannabinoids concentration, suggesting that controlled environment studies or multi-year trials should be completed to further elucidate the importance of these G × E interactions. Fresh plant materials were air dried at room temperature in darkness for up to 14 d until the leaves become brittle. The drying time varied depending on inflorescence density: plants with compact and tight buds took 14 d, whilst plants with branched buds with space between branches were dried after 7 d. At this stage, the water content of the plant materials was approximately 10%,grow rack which was uniform for all populations. Coarse dried female flower buds were then selected, crumbed, and pulverized until ensuring accepted tolerance homogeneity of the samples.
After testing different protocols, sonication was found to be the best process to agitate samples for cannabinoid extraction. Thus, 50 mg of fine tissue powder was weighed and extracted with 2 mL of a mixture methanol/chloroform by sonication for 40 min and centrifugation at 10,000 rpm for 15 min at 10 ◦C. The upper phase was separated overnight to evaporate the solvent, and residue was dissolved in 1 mL of HPLC grade MeOH. In order to filter the extract, centrifugation was performed at 13,000 rpm for 10 min. Finally, the supernatant was transferred into an amber vial and 20 µL applied for injection to HPLC apparatus. Starting a successful breeding program in cannabis using a new elite germplasm requires profiling of cannabinoids and terpenes in selected superior chemotypes that harbor ideal morphological characteristics for diverse needs to develop hybrid seeds. A deeper insight into the patterns of recreational, industrial, and medical cannabis use is a high priority for both public health and industry. So far, there is still a great lack of information about chemical composition and cannabinoids profile of Iranian cannabis populations in terms of THC and CBD contents. The present study as a first survey provides a deep insight into THC and CBD profile of 20 natural dioecious cannabis populations morphologically distinct from various geographical regions of Iran and the plausible correlation of these contents with environmental and geographical conditions of regions of origin. The results showed that diverse THC and CBD contents both between and within populations represented three chemical phenotypes as type I , type II , and type III . Ard-01 with THC/CBD ratio of 1 was chemically distinct, which may increase the capacity of commercialization and medical industries. The THC content of all plants of population Sam-01 characterized with THC level ≤ 0.3% contribute to increase the potential of law enforcement programs in Iran.
Additionally, differences in unique and important morphological features of this collection may indicate the difference in their chemical type. Correlations between geography and climate of site of origin were also identified, suggesting that both THC and CBD production were positively and negatively correlated with temperature and latitude, respectively, but more research is required to tease apart these G × E interactions more fully. In conclusion, our study unravels the natural diversity to delineate cannabis resource with variations in THC and CBD contents and morphological traits, providing a foundation to initiate breeding programs in Iranian cannabis towards different industrial and medical purposes. Therefore, this study will promote future possibilities for the burgeoning cannabis industry in Iran. Traveling over the ridges and through the fertile valleys of Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties, one encounters a variety of farms, ranches, wineries and farm stands — and now a proliferation of cannabis industry billboards. Touting cannabis appellations and the ease of acquiring cannabis goods and services, their message is loud and clear: legal recreational cannabis has arrived. As the cannabis sector has come fully into public view, so too has its interaction with non-cannabis agriculture. In Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties, as in other California counties, cannabis regulations over the expansion of recreational cultivation are still being refined. The uncertainty about how they will impact local economies, environments and communities is also affecting the non-cannabis agricultural community. The changes farmers and ranchers will undoubtedly face are situated within broader questions about farmland transitions in the United States.Across the United States, farmland is increasingly subject to financial investment and speculation. Research suggests that financial investment in the food system has already had considerable impacts on food production in some regions, including investments in farmland, food processing, agricultural inputs and more .
Questions of scale and implications of ownership have long been a focus of agricultural research, as these factors clearly shape farming communities and can lead to negative socioeconomic and community outcomes . In some rural areas of the United States, outside financial investors have caused land values to rise and increased farmer tenancy while decreasing farmer ownership. U.S. Department of Agriculture statistical data confirm this trend in California; many counties have seen an increasing amount of both rented land and non-operator landlords — common indicators of financial investment in farmland . Other research has reported on these trends, particularly how financial actors — from hedge funds to university endowments — have acquired farmland across the United States . The expansion of recreational cannabis production in Northern California intersects with this trend. Articles have highlighted entrepreneurs developing industrial-scale cannabis farms in the Central Coast , rapid consolidation of cannabis markets across North America and large corporate alcohol interests — Constellation, Molson Coors and others — investing billions of dollars in the cannabis industry . Outside investments in land can amplify the challenges food producers face. Already in much of California there is a history of significant land use change and crop regime shifts . Particularly in Northern California, food producers have experienced the effects — for example, Sonoma County apple growers have been impacted by the arrival of grapes and a related increase in farmland prices. More broadly, conventional growers in California have been impacted by organic production increasing the price of farmland . But grapes and organics are not directly analogous to cannabis. Until recently, cannabis had never legally been grown for recreational use on California land zoned for agriculture; it was instead part of the counterculture .The uncertainty being experienced in the non-cannabis agricultural community also extends to environmental concerns. Reports have been published about rodenticide poisoning and excessive irrigation use in cannabis ; furthermore, recent research described how despite the overall small footprint of cannabis production on the landscape, it can have significant negative impacts, including to landscape fragmentation and important ecosystem processes . The shift to legal production of recreational cannabis brings with it a chance to create environmental standards for the industry. Regulations might begin to curtail negative environmental impacts as producers transition into the legal framework. Furthermore, now that production has been legalized, some non-cannabis growers might choose to diversify their agricultural operations to bring an influx of new revenue. A recent article asked whether Ukiah, in Mendocino County, could become the “Napa of pot” .As cannabis development continues and counties negotiate policy and regulatory decisions,greenhouse grow tables it is vital that evidence of impacts and opportunities be collected and that community members, including non-cannabis farmers and ranchers, maintain a voice in the negotiations. My research project was undertaken to better understand and articulate the farming and ranching communities’ perspectives and needs post Proposition 64 in Northern California. It was born out of conversations with UC Cooperative Extension specialists who noticed an increased frequency with which the non-cannabis farming and ranching communities discussed interactions with the cannabis sector surrounding the passing of Proposition 64. Of specific interest was how these interactions were being talked about at food policy council meetings in Northern California. At the outset, it was clear that these conversations covered a spectrum of opinions ranging from apprehension to optimism.
It was also clear that while the division between the cannabis and non-cannabis communities was not always completely transparent — in some cases, non-cannabis farmers may at times have grown cannabis on the side — this framing was useful for beginning to understand key themes related to what could be a divisive topic. The project took place in the summer and fall of 2017, and it was completed before Jan. 1, 2018, when legal recreational cannabis cultivation began. Research was approved by the UC Berkeley Committee for Protection of Human Subjects Institutional Review Board, Protocol ID 2017-05-9973. Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties were selected because they approximate a gradient of food production versus cannabis development, include a diversity of food and fiber production, and adopted different regulatory frameworks for recreational cannabis. Livestock is the largest agricultural enterprise by gross production value in Humboldt County, and wine grapes are the main enterprise in Mendocino and Sonoma counties . Average farm size in Humboldt and Mendocino counties is similar, around 630 acres; in Sonoma County, there are many more farms and the average size is 165 acres . In terms of acreage, all three counties have most land farmed as pasture . Information about land use and top-ranked non-cannabis crops produced in each of the three counties is provided in figures 1 and 2 and table 1. These figures and tables are from 2016 county-level crop reports that track agricultural commodities, which do not include cannabis. At the time of this research similar data on legal recreational cannabis was not available, and collecting information such as historical production trends and the identity of cannabis growers was not the focus of this research. To date, USDA census of agriculture data does not exist, as cannabis remains federally illegal. I conducted preliminary interviews with UCCE and related agricultural professionals to develop research questions before interviewing 24 key informants across the three counties. The interviewees were selected to include a wide range of people familiar with cannabis and agricultural trends in the region but especially those who were closely connected to the policy making and regulatory process: they included state and county officials involved in agriculture, cannabis regulation, planning, building and zoning; realtors; food policy council members; members of prominent farming and ranching organizations and agriculture and ranching– related nonprofit organizations; and other key agricultural community members. Interviews were open ended, semistructured and generally lasted 1 to 2 hours. I asked questions about access to land and other resources, trends in investment, change to land use and natural resource use, and the character of the county’s agriculture and ranching . The interview recordings were transcribed and analyzed for key themes using NVivo qualitative data analysis software ; then interviews were coded and representative quotations selected as evidence. A range of perspectives from these findings are summarized in table 3. Four main themes emerged.The research findings suggest that a range of interactions have been evolving between cannabis growers and non-cannabis farmers and ranchers in Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties. The non-cannabis sector has faced many new challenges and uncertainties during the process in which recreational cannabis transitioned to legality. Accordingly, interviewees continued to express mixed feelings about how these actions would continue to unfold. The comparison of cannabis growing to vineyards, while imperfect, was nonetheless generally useful for interviewees to begin to picture what types of landscape and community changes could come about, particularly in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Lessons may be gleaned from the precedent of transitions to wine grape vineyards, and may be used to inform policy and community approaches to both harmonizing and mitigating impacts of cannabis on non-cannabis communities. For example, when considering Sonoma’s transition to wine grapes and the correlating increase in farmland prices, it would be useful to identify what strategies non–wine grape producers relied on to keep farming non-grape crops, and whether certain producers found ways to subsidize non-grape crops .