INTRODUCTION
Papua New Guinea is the second largest Island located in the Pacific Ocean. It is known for its multi-diversed culture and is home to the Birds of Paradise the national birds that can only be found in Papua New Guinea chosen as the national emblem on the flag of Papua New Guinea.
Twenty- two (22) provinces together make up the whole of Papua New Guinea. The Eastern Highlands Province is located in the centre of the map of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and is one of the Highlands Provinces in the country known to many people (Nationally & Internationally) as the home of the ASARO MUDMEN.
Goroka is the main town in Eastern Highlands Province. Eight sub-districts make up the Eastern Highland Provinces and Goroka is the main centre for all the other seven sub-districts.
GOROKA
Goroka, known as the home of the Asaro Mudmen, is also described as untouched and virgin for all its natural aspects. People from other parts of Papua New Guinea describe Goroka as the land of milk and honey. They also say that,” Pasin Goroka bai karim lewa blo yu go,” meaning, the friendliness of the people of Goroka will take your heart away. They also say that among all parts of Papua New Guinea, Goroka is the safest and cheapest place to live in.
CLIMATE AND VEGETATION
Papua New Guinea has a tropical climate with sunshine and rain all year. Eastern Highlands Province has a temperate climate and is located East of the country and south of the equator ( -6° S). It is not too cold like in the other Highland Provinces or too warm like in the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea. Since Goroka has a temperate climate, different varieties of plants adapt and grow well including imported plants like apples, grapes etc.
Much of its landscape and vegetation are organic, native, and primitive. The vegetation is mostly grassland and scattered forest along the mountain range. The soil tone and texture are soft and black, whereas on the mountains, it becomes more orange as is a mixture of rocks and soil.
Goroka is also home to various fresh organic local produce like cabbage, potatoes, pineapple, and avocado to sell to other centres in Papua New Guinea. Coffee is the main cash crop in Eastern Highlands Province. It is harvested every mid-year from May and ends in August. Most of the coffee plantations are locally owned and are located in remote areas which are accessed through the 23 airstrips around Eastern Highlands Province. Apart from coffee as a cash crop, other fresh fruits and vegetables are grown for selling for cash. Eastern Highlands Province grows about a third of all the coffee in Papua New Guinea. In Goroka there are different types of markets.
There are the Fruit and vegetable market, the plants and flowers market, the bilum (bag) market, Tumbuna (traditional market).
PRODUCTION OF CANNABIS
One of the illegal goods that is grown and sold locally is cannabis. Any person in possession of cannabis can get arrested and face severe penalties. Goroka is widely known by other centres in Papua New Guinea for its quality, organic and fresh-harvested drugs. Goroka also controls the price of cannabis in all the Provinces in Papua New Guinea. Cannabis is grown in many areas of Eastern Highlands Province. The areas in which cannabis is grown are over 2000 meters (6500 ft) above sea level.
SOWING
Cannabis in Eastern Highlands Province is sown any month of the year, depending on the weather but since it’s always sunny and rainy it is possible to grow any time of the year. However, the right time for cannabis to be sown and transplanted is between November and January during the rainy season. When seeds are sown, it usually takes 2 to 6 days for them to sprout. Seeds sown during the rainy season tend to grow quicker and healthy and will be ready for transplanting pretty soon, usually in one month or less.
FLOWERING AND BUDDING
Cannabis nursery plants are then transplanted in a clearing area where no other plants are growing nearby. The plants growing in full sunlight are the healthiest and establish a strong root system, reaching and exceeding easily 3 meters in height. As plants start growing, nothing is added to the soil as long as the plant gets water from the soil, it grows naturally by itself and the soil in Papua New Guinea seems rich in minerals and anything that a plant needs to thrive effortlessly.
After transplanting the nursery plants, it takes about 3 to 4 months for the plants to show signs of pre-flowering.
For the buds to be fully mature and ready for harvest the plants will need another 3 to 4 months. This also depends on the variety of cannabis (phenotype). Some will go faster and others will need more time. Let’s say a total of 8 months for the longest flowering and 6 to 7 months in the best case.
HARVESTING OF CANNABIS
It takes 6-8 months for cannabis plants to be ready for harvest. Seeds sown between November and January, are harvested between May and July when the sunny season is at its peak. The sunshine helps the plant to mature well and be ready for harvest. Cannabis grown in and around Goroka is organic, like all the other cash crops sold at the market. There are no fertilizers used in growing cannabis.
HARVESTING METHOD
In Eastern Highlands Province, there are two types of houses used for storing cannabis. There is the traditional (tumbuna) house made of bush materials and the modern house made with iron roofing. Cannabis is harvested after midday and stored in a safe and dry place inside the house. Cannabis stored in a traditional house takes two weeks to dry and be ready for consumption. The Goroka’s traditional house for drying cannabis is made from trees and special grass (Kunai grass) for roofing which makes the house cool during the day when temperatures are higher and warm in the nighttime because most houses have a fireplace for cooking and heating.
Cannabis stored in a traditional house has a sweet aroma that smells like a mix of frangipani and mint. Some say it has a coffee mint smell and tastes like cool mint. Cannabis stored in a modern house takes 3 to 5 days or a bit longer for it to be ready for consumption. This is because the iron roofing gets heated up during the day which speeds up the drying process and the flowers are ready for smoking within a short time. Cannabis stored in a modern house dries up quickly and doesn’t give off a very strong aroma. Cannabis that is stored in modern houses has a hot mint taste. Villages in and around Goroka cultivate cannabis because most of the lands are traditionally owned (customary land), therefore, people cultivate cannabis illegally, but, when they’re caught, the penalty is severe.
TYPES OF CANNABIS
In Eastern Highlands Province, there are three (3) different varieties of cannabis grown mainly for consumption and local sales.
The Green type of cannabis has the shape of a large Christmas tree. It takes 8 months for it to mature and be ready for harvest. The green phenotype grows and easily reaches (and exceeds) the height of 300 centimetres (9-10 ft)
The Purple plants also called “MERI BUKA”, as they’re known among the younger (but not only the younger) generation. Meri Buka means a dark-skinned woman (a black woman). It obviously describes the dark purple types found among the fields of otherwise green and lighter green plants. These plants produce purple colours when they start flowering. When they’re mature and ready the stem and the branches of the plant turn completely purple.
These plants have the shape of a small Christmas tree and grow to a height of 60 to 100 centimetres (2 – 3 ft) in Goroka without any fertilizer.
YELLOW/GOLD (LIGHTER GREEN)
These plants are light green and grow small with 6 to 8 side branches. They don’t grow tall like the other types of cannabis mentioned earlier. The lighter green(yellow/gold) cannabis grows to a height between 60 to 80 centimetres ( 2 to 2.5 ft) making it ideal for stealth growing. When these plants start to flower they give off a mix of rose, frangipani, and mint aroma. Consumers have different sense of taste when smoking. Most consumers prefer the purple and the lighter green (yellow) weed as they say “it is stronger and more effective than the green weed and has a stronger and more pronounced mint taste’. To each their own.
USES OF CANNABIS
Cannabis grown in and around Eastern Highlands Province is grown the organic way, lasts a couple of hours, and has that soaring high effect typical of tropical sativas. The duration of the effects on the consumer depends on the intake and it also depends on how seasoned the consumer is and how the body system adapts and reacts to it. Some consumers describe the feeling as highly cerebral, all-in-the-head, some other refer to floating on clouds, some others feel very hungry and horny.
Because cannabis is illegal, it is grown mainly for local consumption. Its practice is similar to that of the traditional betel nut and tobacco consumption. As mentioned earlier, depending on how the body reacts, some consumers end up turning mental while others may go on partying all night. If cannabis were legal, many areas in Eastern Highlands Province would turn to farming, because it is grown organic and gives high-quality flowers, and it also tastes good.
ADVANTAGES
Cannabis is used as a stimulant and energy booster for all those people who do manual work here in PNG.
It also acts as a hunger stimulant and at the same time helps those who find it hard to fall asleep or simply to disconnect. In addition, it helps reduce inflammation in the body reducing stress, joint and muscle aches and pains. Recently, cannabis has been used for trading for cash, laptops, cars, guns, bullets, iPods, and many other things.
DISADVANTAGES
People cultivating, transporting, or consuming cannabis in Papua New Guinea are regarded as crazy and fool, and called names (drug body, stupid etc.), degrading them to the lowest point in society. When people are caught smoking, transporting, or cultivating they get a year and six months imprisonment and pay a fine of 5,000 kina (5000 USD). Today cannabis is grown as an illegal cash crop in some of the urban and most the rural areas of Eastern Highlands Province. These areas can only be accessed through airstrips, trucks, or walking for hours.
