Pumpkin cultivation has replaced the illegal growing of poppy seeds in a village in Lohit district providing the farmers both mental peace and money due to the consistent efforts of the Arunachal Pradesh government.
Medo village, over 300 km from the state capital and 27 km from the district headquarters town of Tezu, once had the dubious distinction of being the opium hub of Lohit district.
The government’s war against opium in the past few years and the schemes taken up by it have resulted in its farmers taking up cultivation of cash crops like ginger, mustard and tea, besides pumpkin, a popular vegetable. A visitor is now greeted with sights of lush green canopies of pumpkin plants instead of the opium flowers, which were visible a few years ago.
The Extra Assistant Commissioner of Wakro circle under whom the village falls, Tamo Riba, informed that the zero-tolerance approach of the state government on opium has worked as an antidote as the majority of the farmers have switched to vegetable cultivation.
The menace has, however, not yet been completely eliminated as a few farmers in the district are allegedly continuing with poppy cultivation, slyly according to Riba.
Poppy seeds yield the narcotic opium. The visible change is a result of the Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojana launched by the state government in 2021. Social organizations are aiding the administration in its fight against opium, he said.
From April to October, the village, comprising small hamlets like Maniyuliang, Tissue and others, is abuzz with the sounds of pumpkin-laden trucks, as traders from neighbouring Assam throng to Medo to purchase the best varieties of the vegetable.
Agricultural Development Officer Vijay Namchoom said that Pumpkin is now a major crop at Medo. Approximately 500 plus farmers of Wakro region cultivating more than 1000 hectares grow an average 5000 plus metric tons of pumpkin annually in this area,
Local traders and shopkeepers of Medo Bazar buy the vegetable produce from the farmers at rates that are influenced and decided by external market factors. If the rates at the end point market are good, the farmers earn handsomely, he said.
The pumpkins are then taken to Tinsukia in Assam from where it is taken to Guwahati, Karimganj and beyond. The government launched the Atma Nirbhar Krishi Yojna and Atma Nirbhar Bagwani Yojna in September last year and allocated Rs 60 crore for each of them.
Under the schemes, 45 per cent of the money to farmers will be a government subsidy, 45 per cent will be a loan from banks and the rest ten per cent will be borne by farmers. The banks involved in it are SBI, Arunachal Pradesh Rural Bank and Arunachal Pradesh Cooperative Apex Bank. Sobut Ngadong, a farmer in the area, said that farmers in the area are no more interested in growing poppies because of the risks involved.
Ngadong said the pumpkin yield this year was hit by the heavy rain but he has earned Rs 2.5 lakh this year by selling his produce.
The farmers have no objection if companies like Patanjali come to the state and sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government and the farmers to purchase their produce so that both the company and the local farmers can earn.
Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said that unless a “drastic” policy is adopted opium cultivation in the state cannot be eliminated. He claimed that the government had allocated Rs. 10 crore for alternate cropping in the places whose opium cultivation was practiced. But the amount was not sufficiently hard as hardly two to four beneficiaries get benefit in each village.
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