As the farmers were going through their routine plucking job on a sunny morning, it was hard to believe that the scene was not from a field in Afghanistan or a parched northern Indian state. But, it was from a poppy field from Sagaon village in Shirala taluka, Sangli.
The meticulous opium farming left the additional superintendent of police, Digambar Pradhan, and his team stunned when they raided eight poppy plots in the village having in an area of 10-odd acres on Tuesday.
“A farmer, Bhanudas Patil (55), of Sagaon has been arrested. The herbs have been seized and will be sent for weighing. There will be few more arrests of the opium cultivators. Also, we are looking for agents allegedly purchasing opium from the cultivators,” Pradhan told DNA.
Incidentally, Maharashtra home minister, R R Patil hails from Sangli.
Over the last two days, police have discovered poppy cultivation across 50 acres in the fields near Moha and Vanjarwadi village in Parli tehsil of Beed district in central Maharashtra. The banned plants were grown amid jowar and sugarcane.
In Sagaon, the opium plantation was done skillfully. On roadside plots, the intercropping of the opium was done in maize or in onion so that the opium could not be recognised. While in the interior area, the direct cropping of opium was done.
“We got the information of opium farming on Monday and we carried out the raids on Tuesday itself,” he said.
“It can be a big racket of opium smuggling,” Pradhan said.
A local villager informed DNA that opium farming is prevalent in Sagaon, Padali, Natoli, Aundi, Antri and Biur villages in the taluka. In few villages, the activity has been going on since the last 8-10 years, while few have turned to opium farming three years ago.
Also, it is a crop that fetches attractive returns than any other crop. When taken as intercrop, opium gives 40-odd kg of pods and 100 kg as a main crop per acre. The per kg price for one kg pod is Rs3,000.
“The farmers plant opium in December while the crop becomes mature by the end of February. Although it requires water twice a month, the fertilizer need is not high. It gives handsome money within three months is main attraction,” a person from Natoli said.
While one acre of plot gives 100 kg opium generating Rs3 lakh in three months, the sugarcane on similar plot gives 40 tonnes of cane after 14 months generating only Rs80,000.
Sangli’s total agriculture land is 14.23 lakh acres with an average land holding of 13.86 acre having crops like sugarcane, grapes, vegetables, sorghum and other cereals.
Opium farming is banned in India as per Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, though it has been being legally cultivated in few areas in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh after taking licenses from Central Narcotic Bureau in controlled manner. “However, in Maharashtra, no such licenses have been issued,” Pradhan said.
