Opium is now grown on rice and corn land in Myanmar
Last Updated on March 18, 2024 5:29 am
The land that was once used to grow various crops like rice, corn and wheat is now being cultivated with poppy from which opium is made.
Due to the economic crisis caused by the ongoing conflict for the last three years after the military coup, the country’s farmers have left the cultivation of food grains and started cultivating this dreaded drug. This news came out in a report of AFP.
Myanmar is now the top opium producing country in Asia. Earlier, Afghanistan occupied this top position for many years. However, after the Taliban came to power, opium cultivation in the country declined drastically.
Opium production in Afghanistan increased manifold after the US and NATO-backed government came to power in 2001 after overthrowing the Taliban government. After nearly two decades of armed conflict, the Taliban regained control of the country in August 2021.
The next year, in 2022, the Taliban government imposed a ban on the use of drugs in Afghanistan. After that, opium cultivation in the country decreased by 95 percent. Myanmar ranks first in opium production in the world.
Since the overthrow of the elected government in a military coup in 2021, the country has experienced political, social and economic instability. As a result, many have turned to opium cultivation, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Opium cultivation is profitable
According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published late last year, Myanmar farmers earn more than 75 percent of their income from opium cultivation.
Opium fetches an average of $355 or 39,000 rupees per kilogram of opium, and cultivated land has increased by 18 percent to 47,000 hectares compared to last year.
As a result, the country has the highest opium production potential since 2001, according to the United Nations. UNODC Regional Representative Jeremy Douglas said the economy, security and good governance were hampered after the military took power in February 2021. As a result farmers in remote areas are turning to opium cultivation for livelihood.
In Myanmar, opium cultivation has expanded to the greatest extent in the Shan, Kin and Kachin states bordering the north. According to the UNODC report, the production of opium per hectare increased by 16 percent to 22.9 kg due to precision cultivation.
According to Douglas, in the future, opium cultivation will grow even faster if the conflict between Myanmar’s military and the country’s minority armed groups increases. In addition to opium cultivation, Myanmar has a long history of high levels of illegal production and trafficking of other synthetic drugs.
Opium in paddy and corn fields
Various crops including rice, wheat and maize were once grown throughout the vast mountainous area bordering the Shan and Karen states. Now it’s just opium and opium. Farmer Aung Moi U also cultivated opium in this area. “Recently I plan to grow opium,” Moi Wu told AFP from the aisle of his opium farm. But first we cultivate a small amount. This time I cultivated three acres.
Aung Moy expects to produce 16 kg of opium from this three acre land. He thinks that he can get about four and a half thousand dollars (equivalent to five lakh taka) by selling it. The question of legitimacy is not a headache for him. Aung Moy said poppy cultivation is the best means of livelihood for our family.
Another farmer in this region is Ai Ai Thein. He also used to grow paddy, maize and pulses in his land. At that place, poppy flowers are now cultivated, from which opium is made.
In 2021, Myanmar’s journey to democracy was halted by a military coup. Since then, an unprecedented conflict has been going on. It has intensified since October last year. Rebel groups are fighting to overthrow the military government.
According to UN data, nearly two million people have been displaced. Ai Ai Thein also had to leave the house under such circumstances. He returned to his home area recently.
Ai Ai said, before leaving home, he used to cultivate rice and other crops. But the depreciation of the local kyat currency made it much more expensive for him to buy agricultural inputs such as fertilizer. Ai Ai says,
Since the change in the political situation, the fighting has continued. As a result we cannot produce anything in our fields.
Aung Mo Woo agreed with Ai Ai’s words. He said, if we send our crops to brokers, it costs a lot. Which is difficult for us to bear. And so we planted poplar instead of corn this year.