Caption: Date: 1967 Location: Biruwa Guthi, Parsa Description: Villagers compressing marijuana, at the threshing area behind the panchayat house; marijuana plants laid out on the ground, to the left and right (after being pressed?). The marijuana was placed in a short stack around the threshing pole; village men walked around the pole, with their weight compressing the marijuana, which was then put in a bullock cart that took it across the border to India for sale. Marijuana was an important cash crop and great care was taken in its cultivation. Marijuana fields were filled with long, mounded, weed-free rows of plants, with irrigated water between the rows. Compressing the plants this way was a day-long, festive event with much singing and laughter. Keywords: Bob Nichols, Nepal Photo History Project, Peace Corp Photo History, agriculture, marijuana processing
