Winged poppy thieves eat into farmers' yields (Environment Feature)


Posted on 9th Mar 2015 01:14 pm by mohit kumar

Jaipur, March 8 (IANS) Poppy farmers in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh district are facing a unique problem.

Come March, parrots descend on their fields in large numbers to slurp on the milk oozing out of cuts made in the pods to ripen the yield.

"Once they have their fill they sit on trees and sleep there for hours. Some of them can be seen circling or staggering before falling from the trees due to overdose of opium," says Kishore Kumar Dhaker, a poppy farmer in Sukwara village of Chittorgarh. Several parrots are also found dead on the ground, some killed in their somnolent state by predatory birds. There are other birds in the area, but parrots seem particularly to be attracted to the intoxicating produce. No one seems to know why.

Farmers are annoyed with the 'winged thieves' as the avian addiction eats into their profit. Moreover, the narcotics department officials look with suspicion at their explanation of a shortfall. According to the terms of their licence, low output can result in the permit being denied in future.Poppy farming is a highly controlled activities since its product, morphine, commands very high prices in the illegal narcotics trade.

Farmers say five to seven per cent of their yield is eaten up by the parrots, despite precautions to frighten them away. "It is difficult to control these parrots. We have to spend hours in our fields to shoo them away," says Bhairulal Jat, another poppy farmer from the same village.

Some farmers use nets to cover their fields, some try to scare them away by beating on tin cans while a few carry catapults with them. "We are not able to sleep fully in the night," says Jat.

Dhaker, whose family has been in opium farming for over four decades, says the birds are addicted to opium because he has been seeing this happening for several years, in March and April, when the poppy seeds are cut to make their milk turn brown for harvesting.

Traditionally poppy farming is carried out in Chittorgarh, Baran, Jhalawar, Udaipur and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan and usually at the start of March when the plant blooms.

As per the Central Bureau of Narcotics website, opium poppy involves lancing and collection of latex from the incised capsule or pod. It is a skilled and laborious job requiring considerable manpower to accomplish the task in a short time span. The capsule is the most important part of the plant as it provides raw opium - a milky exudate. It contains about 70 percent of the total morphine synthesised by the plant.

(Anil Sharma can be contacted at anil.s@ians.in)

0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

Air Travel: Despite the huge increase in fares, the number of air passengers is increasing, and special arrangements made at the airport

Seeing the way the airports are getting crowded despite the huge hike in airfares, the Ministry o

Government's clarification on rising prices of petrol and diesel: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister said 'free vaccine is being compensated by high prices of petrol and diesel'

Union Minister of State (Petroleum and Natural Gas) Rameshwar Teli has blamed the tax for the ris

Nuh Violence: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said – Nuh violence was pre-planned, proof of this is the stone deposited on the roof

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said on Friday that 102 FIRs have been registered so far in connec

Chandrababu Naidu to visit Singapore from Monday

Hyderabad, March 29 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will lead a delega

Zydus Cadila: The company will do scratch coding on the packaging of medicines, which will help to stop the sale of counterfeit medicines

The distribution of counterfeit drugs has always been a concern. This not only causes loss of lif

MP Board 10th, 12th Result: MP Board has released the result of the 10th and 12th examinations, check here

MP Board 10th, 12th Result: Board of Secondary Education, Madhya Pradesh (MPBSE) has released the

Sonia Gandhi : BJP leader's controversial statement put Rahul in a mental asylum and send Sonia to her maternal home

Jagat Singh, BJP district head of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, has given a controversial statement reg

Finland's PM was seen dancing after drinking alcohol: Sana Marine was accused of taking drugs by the opposition, PM said - I am ready for investigation

A video of Finland's Prime Minister Sana Marine is going viral on social media. In this, she is s

Names of 8 shooters who shot Sidhu Moose Wala came to the fore, 'crab' caught as a fan doing recce

The strings of Sidhu Moose Wala's murder are linked to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtr

Owaisi: BJP's agenda to end India's diversity, AIMIM chief said - he is threatened by our beard

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin on Tuesday attacked the BJP fierce

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash