Production Technology of opium poppy

Introduction

Scientific name: Papaver somniferum

Family: Papaveraceae

Economic part: Dried latex from unripe capsules

Orgin: Western mediterranean.

2n= 22

The genus, Papaver, is the Greek word for "poppy." The species, somniferum, is Latin for "sleep inducing."

Due to presence of medicinally valuable alkaloids , only 2

sections Mecones and Mycrantha are economically

important.

P. somniferum is major in mecones group . Other species in

the group are P. setigerum, P. glacum, P. glacile and P.

dicaisnei.

Mycrantha contains P. bracteatum, P. orientale and P.

pseudo-orientale.

HIST0RY

• Opium is the oldest and best known pain killer drug from time immemorial.

• The German pharmacist Serturner isolated and described the principal alkaloid in opium, which he named morphium after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.

• The invention of the syringe and the discovery of other alkaloids of opium soon followed: codeine in 1832 and papaverine in 1848.

• In the United States, opium preparations became widely available in the 19th century and morphine was used extensively as a painkiller for wounded soldiers during the Civil War.

Distribution

• It is native to western Mediterranean from where it spread to Asia minor.

• It is widely distributed in temperate and subtropical regions of the world.

• crop was introduced to India in 7th century A.D. It was commercially established during

Mughal period by 13th century and expanded during british rule.

• Opium poppy is to be cultivated on license.

India is the largest supplier of opium and its alkaloids in the

world .

International Narcotic Control Board (INCB) banned

cultivation of opium poppy for collecting latex except in

India due to its illegal use.

In India opium poppy is cultivated mainly in UP,MP and

Rajasthan which is done through a annual renewable icense

issued by narcotic department of India.

Out of 1000 tonnes produced ,India exports 70% to USA.

Chemical constituents

• There are almost 40 alkaloids present in poppy.

• It contains 3 morphinone alkaloids-morphine, codeine, thebaine and

phthalide isoquinoline alkolids – papaverine, narcotine and narcine.

• Narcotine is mainly seen during seedlings of 7 cm tall.

• Maximum concentration of alkaloid occurs in capsules because of latex

vessels.

Uses

• Opium is used as narcotic, sedative, anti-spasmodic,hynotic and sudorific.

• Opium tincture is used in cough, diarrhoea and dysentery.

• Suppositories of opium with lead are used to relieve rectal and pelvic pains. Its ointment is applied in haemorrhoids.

• Morphine is used as analgesic, sedative in cardiac failure, asthma and whooping cough.

Morphine is invaluable in treatment of renal colic, internal

haemorrhage, myocardial infraction and congestive heart failure.

Codeine is used as mild analgesic and a respiratory sedative.

Thebaine is used as sedative during operations.(earlier in

anaesthesia).

Narcotine is beneficial inn allaying cough and headache and for

spams in intestine

Papaverine is used as antispasmodic, has strong effect on blood

vessels and abdominal viscera.

Opium poppy seeds are considered to possess nutritive value having no

narcotic effects and hence used in breads, curries, sweets and

confectionaries.

Seeds contain 52% edible oil which is good for culinary preparations.

Oil is rich in linoleic acid(68%) which lowers cholesterol content.

Capsule husk is used in tea. Bonda tea prepared by brewing powdered

capsules with tea is prevalent in Punjab and MP.

The red flower used or making syrup and colours( used as indicators).

Habit

• Plant is annual herb, erect. Shy branching. The main stem of a fully-matured Papaver somniferum ranges between two and five feet in height.

• The green leaves are oblong, toothed and lobed and vary between four to fifteen inches in diameter at maturity. The matured leaves have no commercial value except for use as animal fodder.

• Flowers large, solitary, bluish white or red or purple.

Opium poppies generally flower after about 90 days of growth and

continue to flower for two to three weeks.

The petals last for two to four days and then drop to reveal a small,

round, green fruit which continues to develop.

These fruits or pods (also called "seedpods," "capsules," "bulbs," or

"poppy heads") are either oblate, elongated, or globular and mature

to about the size of a chicken egg.

Seeds are white or black, reniform.

VarietiesVarities Institute Yield/ ha and morphine

(%)Characters

BROP-I NBRI Opium 54 kg, morphine -20%

White lowers,resistant to lodging

Kirtiman UAT, Faizabad Latex 35-46 Kg White flowers, morphine-12%

Chetak RAU, Udaipur Latex-54 kg Whit flowers, Capsule bigand bold.

Trishna NBPGR, New Delhi Latex 49-53 Pink flowers, stable yield.

Jawahar (Aphim 16) JNKV mandsaur Morphine content- 12% Big and bod capsules

Sheweta CIMAP, Lucknow Latex- 45kg Morphine percent is high

Shyama CIMAP, Lucknow Latex- 75kg High morphine content

Other varieties released by CIMAP include Sampada, Sanchita, Subhra, Vivek, Raksllit, Sujatha.

Climate and soil

• Low night and day temp. is good for the crop. (20-25oC)

• A cold weather with adequate sunshine, no wind and lack of cloudiness is ideal. Rain fall is 100 -150 cm.

• It is a delicate temperate crop and grown as a winter crop from November to April.

• Opium poppy is grown in all kinds of soil but it prefers a sandy loam soil . pH around 7 is preferable.

Land Preparation

• Propagation is through seeds and are either line sown or broadcasted directly in main field.

• Sowing is done within the first fortnight of November.

• Seed rate is 6-7 Kg/ha for broadcasting and 5-6 kg/ha for row sowing.

• Row sowing is done at a line spacing of 25-30cmand pant to plant spacing of 10cm within a row are better.

Manures and fertilizers

• FYM at 8-10 tonnes per ha is applied as basal.

• N:P:K of 90:50:40 kg/ha is applied in 3 splits.

• Half the quantity of Nitrogen, full P and K are given as basal dressing before sowing.

• ¼ th of remaning nitrogen is given at active vegetative phase ( after 40-50 days) and other ¼ th during flower shoot bearing stage.

Irrigation

• There should not be moisture stress during growth period and flowering.

• First irrigation is given 20-25 days after sowing and light irrigation at interval of 15-20 days up to pre-flowering stage.

• Altogether 6-8 irrigations re sufficient.

• No irrigation during lancing and collection of latex.

Weeding

• It is very important as weeds grow rapidly than poppy seedlings.

• First weeding is done at 20-25 days of sowing.

• Second weeding followed by light hoeing is necessary after 15-20 days of first weeding.

• During second weeding, seedlings are thinned to maintain a plant to plat distance of 10cm.

• Chlortoluran spray (1.5kg/ha) at pre-emergence stage controls weeds.

Crop rotation and intercropping

• Crop rotation during kharif crop like maize-poppy, urd-opium poppy and

groundnut –opium poppy are common.

• Garlic is intercropped with poppy. Mostly other intercrops are not preferred

as latex yield may decrease.

Harvesting

• Opium is harvested by making incision on capsule wall at particular stage of plant grown as industrial maturity.

• Capsule is the main organ of opium containing 70% of total morphine in the plant.

• Developing capsules are ready for lancing after about 15 days of flowering.

• For lancing, field is divided into 3-4 portions so that each portion can be lanced every 3rd or 4th day.

Lancing

The capsule is lanced with a special type of indigenous instrument

‘Nashtar’. It has 3-4 small blades designed to ensure uniformity in depth

of incisions.

Each capsule is lanced 3 to 4 times.

The incision is three parallel longitudinal cuts and performed after 3 pm.

Depth of incision should not be more than 1.2mm as deeper incision

causes latex gong inside capsule.

Lancing starts from north to south to keep incision facing sun.

Storage,grading and processing

Raw opium collected is dried by heating or sun-drying.

Raw opium is received by district opium officer and tested

for its purity and consistency. It is classified into 8

categories based on consistency.

Drying is mainly done at 97-98oC for 5 days over which

morphine content reduces.

enzyme peroxidase is responsible for its decomposition.

Pests

• Opium poppy is attacked by a number of pests but all possess minor status.

• Important pests are root weevil (Stenocarus fuliginus), Cutworm ( Agrotish suffusa), aphids ( Myzus spp.).

• These pests can be controlled effectively by

• Dusting with 12% BHC at the rate of 15-20 kg/ha.

• Aldrin (30 E.C) (2.5 L /ha) sprayed for cutworm control.

DISEASES

1) Root rot- Fusarium semitectum

• Mainly affects during the seedling stage characterized by rotting of underground roots.

• Leaves become yellow and ultimately plats die.

• Controlled by spraying of bavistin (1g/l of water) or streptocycline (4-6g/ 600-800 l of water) is effective.

2)Downy mildew- Pernospora arborescens (seed borne)

Appearance of brownish-black coating of conidiospores on undersides of leaves.

The leaf shrink and plants become weak and stunted.

Formation of capsules is adversely affected.

Formed capsules have black marks.

Management-

Seed treatment with Apron EC 35 or Dithane M-45 ( 4g /kg seed) before sowing.

Spraying of Dithane M-45 ( 3g/L water) at an interval of 15 days checks infection.

3) Leaf curl

Disease is caused by virus, which is transmitted mechanically by aphids

through sap.

The disease cause stunting, vein banding and deformed capsule

formation.

The disease is checked by uprooting diseased plans and burning

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