India's opium poppy production flat at 318 tonnes in FY14: Government

NEW DELHI: Country's poppy seed production remained flat at 318 tonnes during FY 2013-14, Parliament was informed today.

The production stood at 371 tonnes in the previous fiscal as compared with 794 tonnes in 2011-12, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Citing reports of the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB), Sinha said India is one of the few countries of the world that legally grows opium poppy.

Moreover, it is the most significant producer of the opium gum in the world.

Korea, China and Japan also produce opium gum in big quantities, he added.

"The cultivation and production of opium gum is done for medical and scientific purposes," Sinha said.