Opium poppy

1. Opium poppy

2.  Scientific name : Papaver somniferum
 Family : Papaveraceae
 Genus Papaver – 100 species – with milky latex –
Poppies
 6 species occurs in India
 Papaver somniferum – commercial source of opium

3.  Opium : sundried latex from unripe capsules of poppy
plant
 Opium : painkiller drug
 Alkaloids : morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine,
narcotine and narcine - analgesic and
antipasmodic
 Source of edible seeds – Khaskhas
 Seed oil – rich in protein and unsaturated fatty acids

4.  Native to Western Mediterranean Europe
 Widely distributed in temperate and subtropical
regions
 Cultivated in – India, USSR, Egypt, China, Germany
etc.

5.  Crop to be cultivated on license
 Illegal use – chemical conversion of morphine into
heroin
 INCB (International Narcotic Control Board) –
banned cultivation except in India
 India – legally permitted

6.  Introduced into India – 7th century A.D
 Commercially established during Mughal period
 Boost up in cultivation- British rule
 India – largest supplier
 70% exported to USA

7.  Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) - overall
supervision of cultivation as per provisions of Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985
 Officers of CBN measure each field and exercise
controls to ensure that no excess cultivation takes
place
 Cultivation : U.P, Raj, M.P

8. Botany
 Apart from medicinal – grown as ornamental – bright
flowers
 Annual herb, Erect
 Leaves – numerous, alternate, serrate, sessile
 Flowers – large, solitary, bluish white, purple or
varigated
 Capsule : large, globose and stalked
 Seed : white or black, reniform

9. Climate
 Temperate crop
 Winter season of subtropics
 Cannot endure extreme cold, high night and day temp –
reduce yield

10.  Yield of latex influenced by weather
 Dull, cloudy or rainy weather during reproductive
stage – reduce quality and quantity
 High gusty winds during lancing season- dry up plant
– reduce exudation
 Hailstorms ruin crop
 Heavy rainfall- latex reduction

11.  Ideal : cold weather with adequate sunshine,
freedom from desiccating winds, freezing temp and
cloudiness

12. Soil
 Almost all kinds of soil
 Prefers sandy loam soil
 pH around 7

13. Propagation
 Seed propagation

14.  Generally grown as winter crop
 Seed mixed with sand and sown in furrows and
covered with soil

15.  8-10 tonnes of FYM/ha
 NPK: 90:50:40 kg/ha
 Foliar application of N- good yield
 Proper irrigation
 Moisture stress – adverse effect
 Irrigation withheld during lancing and collection of
latex

16.  Weeding
 Crop rotation is common
 Intercropping with garlic

17. Harvest and postharvest handling
 The extraction - February and March
 Capsule – latex deposition – 70 % of total morphine
 Incision on capsule wall - at industrial maturity
 Lancing – 15 days of flowering
 Field - 3-4 portions – each portion – every 3rd or 4th
day

18. Lancing
 Indigenous instrument – Nashtar – 3-4 small blades
–uniformity in depth
 Each capsule – 3 to 4 times

19.  3 parallel longitudinal cuts - after 3.00 pm
 Exude latex
 Coagulates and ticker and slightly darker in colour
 Depth of incision not more than 1.2 mm
 Deeper incision – flow of latex inside capsule
 Shallow incision – flow outwards

21. Collection of latex
 Early morning- Iron scoop
 Maximum latex – first lancing – decreases in
subsequent harvest
 Terminal capsule – more opium
 Average yield – 35-55kg/ha

22.  After lancing – capsule left to dry – seed purpose
 Separated by thrashing of fully dried capsule
 Average seed yield – 0.8 to 1.2 tonnes/ha

23. Chemical composition
 40 alkaloids are isolated
 Morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, narcotine –
application in medicine
 Seeds – free from alkaloids
 On germination – narcotine, codeine, morphine, and
papaverine
 Maximum alkaloids (70%) – in capsule – latex vessels

24. Uses
 Narcotic, sedative, analgesic, antispasmodic,
hypnotic
 Cough, diarrhoea, dysentery
 Rectal and pelvic pains
 Veterinary practices