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 in Jantar Mantar here on Monday (August 17, 2026), under the banner of Bharatiya Afeem Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, the licensee farmers said the number of opium licenses for medicinal opium cultivation should be increased, and the price of opium procured by the Government should be hiked to ₹1,00,000 per kilogram for farmers, in line with the international market price.

The farmers said in a representation to the Government that the opium leases that have been cancelled since 1990 should be reinstated, so that the cultivation of opium, 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 kilograms per hectare,” they demanded.

The farmers said the poppy straws should be excluded from the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and claimed that they are not a narcotic substance but rather the husk of the poppy plant. The farmers demanded that the Concentrate of Poppy Straw (CPS) method of opium harvest, which the Government has been promoting based on international experience since the 2021-22 crop year, should be completely abolished, and the traditional opium cultivation should be promoted. “The government should rather purchase poppy straws at a rate of ₹2,000 per kilogram 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 licenses to cultivate opium in these States. “This represents a 23.5% increase over the number of licenses actually issued in the previous crop year. The policy thus brings approximately 15,000 additional farmers into the fold, who are expected to benefit from opium cultivation this year,” the Government had said in September, 2025 while announcing the new policy.

“The Central Government continues to ensure adequate supply of alkaloids to meet medical and palliative care needs. Concurrently, efforts are underway to augment processing capacity through indigenous and self-reliant measures, with a view to meeting the requirements of alkaloids for the production of essential narcotic drugs,” it added.