• Opium cultivation in the Golden Triangle continued to expand over the past year, with a significant increase in Myanmar, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report.

• The Golden Triangle is a region where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.

• Myanmar has become the world's largest source of opium, due to domestic instability and a decline in cultivation in Afghanistan.

• Myanmar’s opium output has surpassed that of Afghanistan, where the Taliban imposed a ban on its production in April last year – leading to a 95 per cent fall in cultivation.

What is opium?

• Opium is a highly addictive non-synthetic narcotic that is extracted from the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum. The opium poppy is the key source for many narcotics, including morphine, codeine, and heroin.

• The poppy plant, Papaver somniferum, is the source of opium. It was grown in the Mediterranean region as early as 5000 BC, and has since been cultivated in a number of countries throughout the world. 

• The milky fluid that seeps from its incisions in the unripe seedpod of this poppy has been scraped by hand and air-dried to produce what is known as opium.

• Opioids have also been increasingly abused, causing widespread addiction issues in many countries.

• Opium is the best known source for relieving pain. The opium poppy contains many alkaloids that are frequently used as an analgesic, anti-tussive and anti-spasmodic in modern medicine. Besides, it is also grown as a source of edible seed and seed oil.

• There are a variety of drivers behind illicit crop cultivation and drug production. Opium poppy cultivation in Southeast Asia is closely linked to poverty, lack of government services, challenging macroeconomic environments, instability, and insecurity.

• Opium cultivation in the Southeast Asia has generally been characterised by traditional practices of smallscale cultivation in poorly organised plots, often as a cash crop, but also for household use. Traditional means of cultivation appear to remain common practice in Lao PDR, which is characterised by sparse poppy plots and modest yield estimates.

Upward trend in poppy cultivation in Myanmar

• The decline in opium cultivation in Afghanistan after a drug ban by the Taliban in 2022 has seen global supply shifted to Myanmar, where political, social and economic instability brought about by a 2021 coup drove many to poppy farming.

• Myanmar’s economy faced a series of external and domestic shocks in 2021 and 2022. 

• The economic, security and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover of February 2021 continue to drive farmers in remote areas towards opium to make a living. The intensification of conflict in Shan and other border areas is expected to accelerate this trend.

• The conflict erupted in October between the junta and an alliance of well-armed ethic groups and forces backing the National Unity Government (NUG, set up by lawmakers of the erstwhile parliament) has spread to over two-thirds of the country, with the military reported to have lost key towns.

• In Myanmar, the area under opium cultivation this year is estimated to be 47,100 hectares, up from 40,100 last year, while the corresponding yield is estimated to be 1,080 metric tonnes, up 36 per cent from the 2022 estimate.

• The most significant increases were registered in Shan State, where cultivation increased by 20 per cent, followed by Chin and Kachin, where it increased by 10 per cent and 6 per cent respectively. 

• A targeted assessment also found indications of substantial opium cultivation in Sagaing, along Myanmar’s border with India. 

• The expansion of opium cultivation is feeding a growing illicit economy in the Mekong region, bringing together high levels of synthetic drug production and drug trafficking, money laundering and online criminal activities including casinos and scam operations.

Opium cultivation in India

• India is one of the few countries internationally permitted to cultivate opium poppy for export. 

• Opium poppy is cultivated in three states of India – Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

• The Central Bureau of Narcotics, based in Gwalior, implements a stringent licensing system in India. 

• The crop is generally sown in November and harvested in March-April. Opium is used to extract alkaloids such as morphine, thebaine and codeine. After the extraction of the opium, the pods are crushed and the poppy seeds are extracted and can be used as condiments in cooking.

• Codeine is commonly used in the manufacture of cough syrups.

• The NDPS Act empowers the central government to permit and regulate cultivation of opium poppy for medical and scientific purposes. The government of India notifies the tracts where opium cultivation can be licensed as well as the general conditions for issuance of license every year.

• The Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) under the Narcotics Commissioner issues licenses to the farmers to cultivate opium poppy. Each field of every cultivator is individually measured by officers of the CBN to ensure that they do not exceed the licensed area. 

• The cultivators are required to tender their entire opium produced to the CBN and they are paid a price at the rates decided by the government. The CBN sets up weighment centres during the harvest season and the cultivators bring their opium to these centres and tender the opium to the CBN.

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