Poppy yield in state one-tenth of Myanmar's output
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, December 17 2024: The global drug trade is increasingly centred on the Golden Triangle - comprising Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand - which has become the world's largest opium-producing region.

Within this nexus, Myanmar reported 45,200 hectares under poppy cultivation in 2023-24, with Manipur in India, in the form of an extension of the infamous Golden Triangle, contributing a smaller yet significant 4,568 hectares.

Strikingly, Manipur, despite being a fraction of Myanmar's size, sees poppy farming at a much higher proportional density.

Myanmar, with a land area of 676,578 sq km, has 0.67 per cent of its total geographical area covered by poppy cultivation, primarily concentrated in Shan State spanning 39,700 hectares (397 sq km) .

Chin State, which shares common boundary with Manipur's Churachandpur and Chandel districts and which recently witnessed a steep rise in the area under poppy cultivation by 18 per cent, has just 832 hectares (8.32 sq km).

Conversely, Manipur's geographical area covers 22,327 sq km, but has 2.04 per cent of its area (45.68 sq km) used as poppy fields, with Kangpokpi alone accounting for over 1,900 hectares, according to information shared in the Parliament by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Monday.

District-wise, Kangpokpi has the largest area under cultivation, with 17.49 sq km, followed by Senapati (9.44 sq km), Ukhrul (6.47 sq km), and Churachandpur (6.02 sq km).

Other districts affected include Kamjong (4.21 sq km), Chandel (0.91 sq km), Tengnoupal (0.50 sq km), Noney (0.47 sq km), and Tamenglong (0.l7 sq km) .

Poppy plantation thriving in the state's is attributed to cross-border labour migration from Myanmar, where farmgate prices for opium are significantly lower - ranging from INR 25,500 to INR 28,000 per kilogram, compared to Manipur's INR 50,000 to 1,50,000 .

This price disparity, coupled with Myanmar's political instability, drives Chin State farmers into Manipur, which many fears as the primary reason for the demographic imbalance in the state.

Manipur has made strides in combating poppy cultivation, destroying over 77 sq km of plantations since 2017 and arresting nearly 3,000 individuals.

Yet these measures, while impactful, fail to address the deeper socio-economic factors that perpetuate the illicit trade.

The Golden Triangle's dominance in the opium market not only ensures a steady supply chain but also fosters networks of organised crime and insurgency.

The porous borders between Chin State and Manipur-enable trafficking routes that sustain both drug cartels and armed groups.

In Manipur, insurgent outfits, active on both sides of the border in the Chin state region with deep ethnic and cultural relationships, and have a hand in poppy farming, are complicating the eradication efforts, making the state a hotspot for transnational crime.

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