Legal opium production in India
Encyclopedia
Licit cultivation of opium
for medicinal purposes is carried out in India
, only in selected areas, under strict licensing conditions. Legal cultivation for medical use is permissible within the ambit of United Nations
, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961.Each year the Central Government notifies the selected tracts where such cultivation will be permitted, and the general conditions for eligibility of the licence.The essential condition for issue of licence is, fulfillment of minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion, specified in number of kilogrammes per hectare. Cultivators who have tendered at least this quantity in the previous year are eligible for licence. The licence among other conditions, specifies the maximum area in which the opium crop can be sown. The crop year starts from 1 October and ends on 30 September each year.Three states in which opium is grown are Rajasthan
, Madhya Pradesh
, and Uttar Pradesh
. For the crop year 2008-09, total number of licences issued was 44821, while MQY was fixed at 56 kg/ha for Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and 49 kg/ha for Uttar Pradesh. Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN),is responsible for overall supervision of cultivation as per provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (India), 1985 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Rules (India), 1985.Officers of CBN measure each field and exercise controls to ensure that no excess cultivation takes place.
The extraction of opium takes place during the months of February and March. Farmers still use the traditional method where they lance each poppy capsule manually with a special blade like tool, a process known as lancing. The lancing is done in late afternoon or evenings. The opium latex which oozes out and congeals in the night is scraped and collected manually the next morning. Each poppy capsule is given three to four lancings. All such opium collected is required to be necessarily tendered to the government, at specially set up opium collection centres, in early April. Opium is checked for quality and consistency and weighed at the centres. Prices are paid which are fixed by the Government in slab rates, depending on the quality and quantity of opium tendered.The payment is made at the centres to the extent of 90%. Final payment is made after laboratory testing at opium factory after confirming that no adulterants have been found.. All the opium procured is sent to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories situated at Neemuch
and Ghazipur
. Opium is dried and processed at these factories for export and is also used for extraction of various products like Codeine phosphate, Thebaine
, Morphine sulphate, Noscapine
etc..
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
for medicinal purposes is carried out in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, only in selected areas, under strict licensing conditions. Legal cultivation for medical use is permissible within the ambit of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961.Each year the Central Government notifies the selected tracts where such cultivation will be permitted, and the general conditions for eligibility of the licence.The essential condition for issue of licence is, fulfillment of minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion, specified in number of kilogrammes per hectare. Cultivators who have tendered at least this quantity in the previous year are eligible for licence. The licence among other conditions, specifies the maximum area in which the opium crop can be sown. The crop year starts from 1 October and ends on 30 September each year.Three states in which opium is grown are Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. For the crop year 2008-09, total number of licences issued was 44821, while MQY was fixed at 56 kg/ha for Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and 49 kg/ha for Uttar Pradesh. Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN),is responsible for overall supervision of cultivation as per provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (India), 1985 and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Rules (India), 1985.Officers of CBN measure each field and exercise controls to ensure that no excess cultivation takes place.
The extraction of opium takes place during the months of February and March. Farmers still use the traditional method where they lance each poppy capsule manually with a special blade like tool, a process known as lancing. The lancing is done in late afternoon or evenings. The opium latex which oozes out and congeals in the night is scraped and collected manually the next morning. Each poppy capsule is given three to four lancings. All such opium collected is required to be necessarily tendered to the government, at specially set up opium collection centres, in early April. Opium is checked for quality and consistency and weighed at the centres. Prices are paid which are fixed by the Government in slab rates, depending on the quality and quantity of opium tendered.The payment is made at the centres to the extent of 90%. Final payment is made after laboratory testing at opium factory after confirming that no adulterants have been found.. All the opium procured is sent to Government Opium and Alkaloid Factories situated at Neemuch
Neemuch
Neemuch or Nimach is a town in the Malwa region in state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Neemuch shares its north eastern border with state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Neemuch District. Nimach is an abbreviation of "North India Mounted Artillery & Cavalry Headquarters"...
and Ghazipur
Ghazipur
Ghazipur , or Ghazipur City, previously spelt Ghazeepore, is a city/town and a municipal corporation and headquarter of Ghazipur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghazipur Division and Sub-division...
. Opium is dried and processed at these factories for export and is also used for extraction of various products like Codeine phosphate, Thebaine
Thebaine
Thebaine , its name coming from the Greek Θῆβαι, Thēbai, an ancient city in Upper Egypt, is an opiate alkaloid. A minor constituent of opium, thebaine is chemically similar to both morphine and codeine, but has stimulatory rather than depressant effects, causing convulsions similar to strychnine...
, Morphine sulphate, Noscapine
Noscapine
Noscapine is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid from plants of the Papaveraceae family, without significant painkilling properties. This agent is primarily used for its antitussive effects. It has also been shown to have anticancer activity...
etc..