New Delhi, India – Ahead of the announcement of the opium licensing policy for 2026-27, scheduled for September, opium farmers from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh have urged the Union Government to formulate it in a manner that benefits the country and farmers. At a protest meeting at Jantar Mantar on Monday under the banner of the Bharatiya Afeem Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, licensee farmers demanded that the number of opium licences for medicinal opium cultivation be increased and that the procurement price be hiked to ₹1,00,000 per kg, in line with international market rates.
In a representation to the Government, the farmers said opium leases cancelled since 1990 should be reinstated so that cultivation, which has increased significantly since 2008, can be further expanded. “Morphine content depends on natural factors and is not in the farmers’ control. Therefore, opium leases should be granted based on a morphine yield of three kgs per hectare,” they demanded. The farmers also sought the exclusion of poppy straws from the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, claiming they are not a narcotic substance but the husk of the poppy plant.
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The farmers further demanded that the Concentrate of Poppy Straw (CPS) method of opium harvest, which the Government has been promoting since the 2021-22 crop year, be completely abolished in favour of traditional opium cultivation. “The government should rather purchase poppy straws at a rate of ₹2,000 per kg and process them for upgrading their quality,” they added. As per the 2025-26 policy, nearly 1.21 lakh farmers are estimated to be eligible for licences to cultivate opium in these States, representing a 23.5% increase over the previous crop year, bringing approximately 15,000 additional farmers into the fold.
