The production of opium poppy seed in the country remained flat at 318 tonnes during FY 2013-14, as per information provided Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. The country’s poppy seed production stood at 371 tonnes in the previous fiscal as compared with 794 tonnes in 2011-12.
India is one of the few countries of the world that legally grows opium poppy, as per reports of the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB). The cultivation and production of opium gum is done for medical and scientific purposes
Moreover, the country is the most significant producer of the opium gum in the world. Apart from India, countries like Korea, China and Japan also produce opium gum in big quantities.