Tlisted below are just a few areas in India the place authorized cultivation of opium poppy is permitted.
Hundreds of farming households in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa and Rajasthan’s Mewar area sow the crop in small land plots underneath the licenses issued by the Union authorities. The farming normally begins because the Deepavali festivities draw to an in depth.
The area produces almost 85% of India’s legally grown opium. The districts embody Mandsaur, Neemuch and components of Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh, and components of Kota and Jhalawar districts in Rajasthan.
The cultivation apply within the area has been handed down by means of generations, with some households rising it for greater than 200 years.
The opium, domestically referred to as opiumis tied to household traditions and status alike with a well-liked saying — opium leaf is poisoned by the boy(opium license is larger than a son).
Farmers say that the license additionally helps with the wedding prospects of their youngsters.
The farming requires expert labour, nurturing of vegetation, and safety of the sphere and the yield. Throughout villages in Mandsaur, Neemuch and Jaora tehsil of Ratlam, one can witness small land parcels protected with fencing and saris used as covers, and nets overlaying the plots from the highest.
The licensing, enforcement and procurement is managed by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) that points licenses of two sorts. Beneath the opium gum license, farmers are allowed to extract the latex by lancing the poppy capsule whereas underneath the focus of poppy straw (CPS) license, the CBN procures the capsule with out lancing and the poppy straw straight.
The crops are sometimes harvested in March after Holi.
Textual content by Mehul Malpani
Picture: AM Faruqui
Petals and endurance: Poppy flowers bloom in an opium area in January. The cultivation normally begins after Deepavali and ends in March after Holi.
Picture: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP
Sprout unfold: Poppy vegetation, Papaver somniferum, which produces opium, planted in a area in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Area of desires: A lady farm proprietor overseeing the lancing work in her opium area in Bahi village of Mandsaur district.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Prepared for the draw: Poppy capsules after the primary spherical of latex extraction. The latex may be extracted three or 4 occasions with the primary product being the purest.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Sharp edge: Conventional knives and instruments that used to lance the poppy capsules and acquire opium latex.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Veiled vigilance: Totally grown poppy capsules in an opium area lined with safety internet.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Uninvited company: Nilgais in a area in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh. The farmers need to take numerous security measures to stop them from consuming opium vegetation.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Males at work: Employees lancing the poppy capsules to extract uncooked opium latex.
Picture: AM Faruqui
Important elixir: Uncooked opium latex oozing out of a poppy capsule in an opium area. The latex is procured by the CBN.
Picture: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP
Cooling yield: An opium farmer exhibits poppy seeds (posto dana or khus khus) obtained from opium poppy at Neemuch district.
Printed – March 29, 2026 08:18 am IST