Bhilwara: Cloudy weather, unseasonable rain and sporadic hailstorms have left opium farmers in Chittorgarh and Bhilwara districts worried about damage to standing crops that have just started flowering in their fields. Inclement weather over recent weeks have affected opium farmers across four tehsils of Bhilwara and two of Chittorgarh.In Van Ka Kheda village of Bhilwara district, farmer Ganesh Lal Jat said heavy rains during opium sowing had forced him to resow on 60% of his fields. The current phase of wet weather, he says, is now making conditions ideal for pest infestations and threatening his crop once again. Another farmer, Narayan Lal Jat, said he had sown maize all around his opium crop in an effort to protect it from the rain and cold. “We are hopeful of having a good harvest when the crop matures by Holi,” he said. “We only demand the government ensure our crops are properly assessed,” he added.Rajasthan is one of only three states where opium cultivation is permitted in notified tracts for pharmaceutical use. Licenses for opium cultivation, however, come with a minimum qualifying yield (MQY) condition, which means farmers have to deliver a settled volume of harvested crop to be eligible for a cultivation license for the following year.In view of these conditions, the local administration has stepped up to offer opium farmers some relief. Bhilwara district opium officer Sunil Kumar Verma said farmers who fail to meet their opium yield targets this crop season can still apply to have their licenses renewed by submitting an online application on the e-Mitra portal or by appearing at the Bhilwara Narcotics department offices in district headquarters between Mar 10 and Mar 15. Farmers who suffer crop damage but fail to submit their applications will not have their licenses renewed, he added.The Bhilwara Narcotics department covers Kotri, Jahazpur, Bijoliya and Mandalgarh tehsils of Bhilwara district, along with Begun and Rawatbhata tehsils of Chittorgarh district. A total of 6,758 farmers in these six tehsils were given opium cultivation licences by the department for this season.Playing down some of the worries expressed by opium farmers, Verma said no complaints of crop damage have been received by the department so far, and field inspections point to a good harvest. There are some reports, though, of crops being resown in certain places, he said.
