Chittorgarh: About 16,000 new farmers will soon be given licenses for opium cultivation in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
"The Centre's move is helping farmers in these states to join the Opium Policy 2024-25, which will allow them to cultivate poppy. Those who have successfully met the requirements of the Narcotics Control Bureau, which oversees the process," Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi said.
He said that in the new policy, the opium license holder farmers whose crop had an average amount of morphine of 4.2 per kilogram or more in the last year 2023-24. All those farmers will get a license to obtain opium gum (Luwai Chirai) through the lacing method.
A farmer, who cultivated opium for poppy straw production during 2023-24, became eligible for a license to obtain opium gum (Luwai Chirai) if his or her average yield was 900 kg per hectare or more.
Farmers, who harvested the crop under the supervision of the Narcotics Department during the crop years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, but the crop was not harvested in 2020-21, will also be eligible.
Farmers who attempted harvesting the crop under the supervision of the Narcotics Department in 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 but did not harvest it in 2020-21 will also be eligible.
Opium is cultivated in vast swathes of land in Chittorgarh, also famous for its many heritage tourist sites. Along with Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, Chhittorgarh produces more than half of total opium in India. Several villages in Chittorgarh district such as Kesapura, Sambhupura, Amrana and Palasia cultivate mainly opium.
