In India’s east, farmers risk jail to grow lucrative cannabis crop

Odisha, India – Ajay Rout is an Indigenous husbandman successful a distant colony successful a confederate territory of India’s Odisha state.

The colony is surrounded by wood and hills with the nearest marketplace 10km (6.2 miles) away.

The 34-year-old grows sweetcorn and vegetables connected his 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) for some his household to devour and to merchantability astatine the market.

Rout said this income is simply a pittance, truthful helium has taken up increasing cannabis, a banned drug, for a amended income.

He has astir 1,000 cannabis plants located heavy successful the hills, which necessitate a trek of astatine slightest 2 hours each mode to get to due to the fact that the way is afloat of boulders and rocks, making it astir intolerable for him to thrust his bicycle oregon motorcycle.

The cultivation of cannabis – besides known arsenic hemp, marijuana, weed and ganja – is ineligible for medicinal usage successful lone respective states, including Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu. Odisha is not 1 of them.

India had nary authorities connected narcotic substances until November 1985 erstwhile it brought successful a instrumentality including a prohibition connected the usage of cannabis.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, makes it amerciable for a idiosyncratic to cultivate, possess, sell, bargain and devour narcotic and psychotropic substances and doing truthful tin pb to terrible fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years.

Risky but profitable

Rout, who has been successful this concern for the past 8 years, served 3 months successful situation successful 2017 and has been retired connected bail ever since. The income from the business, immense for him, overcomes the fearfulness of being progressive successful it.

Brick houses are replacing mud houses successful tribal areas successful Odisha authorities [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]

“We unrecorded successful a hilly terrain wherever accepted farming has a precise constricted scope. I hardly gain 30,000 rupees [$357] a twelvemonth by increasing vegetables and sweetcorn whereas I tin easy marque 500,000 rupees [$5,962] successful conscionable 5 to six months successful cannabis cultivation,” helium told Al Jazeera aft being assured that his existent sanction would not beryllium disclosed.

Rout said helium and different cannabis growers mostly take distant locations successful the hills for their plantations to support themselves from constabulary raids. “We are fortunate to unrecorded amidst hills arsenic cops don’t raid present arsenic the way is excessively hard to trek and scope the plantation area,” helium said.

The planting play starts astatine the extremity of July. Typically, it takes 5 months for the flowers to grow, which are past plucked, dried nether the sun, packed and sold to traders. An 8- to 10ft-tall (2.4- to 3-metre-tall) works produces 1kg (2.2lb) of cannabis astatine a outgo of astir 500 to 600 rupees ($5.8 to $7) per kilogramme. Farmers merchantability that to traders for 1,000 to 1,500 rupees ($12 to $18) per kilogramme.

“But each the trees bash not springiness akin accumulation and astir of them carnivore nary flowers astatine all. Excessive rains are harmful for the crop,” said Deepankar Nayak, 37, a farmer.

Change successful lifestyle

Cannabis cultivation, adjacent though banned successful Odisha, is simply a highly lucrative concern for the farmers and has brought them overnight riches.

Subhankar Das, 38, who lives successful the aforesaid colony arsenic Rout, told Al Jazeera that helium precocious changed the flooring successful his location from factual to marble tiles with the income from the amerciable trade. He has besides bought 3 motorcycles. His children are enrolled successful section connection schools, but helium is readying to displacement them to English connection schools, which are a batch much expensive.

“I tin adjacent bargain four-wheelers and tin physique a palatial house, but we person to refrain from specified activities arsenic it would bring america connected the radar of cops who are ever connected alert to nab america and destruct our fields,” Das added. “Still, immoderate among america person purchased four-wheelers.”

NK Nandi, laminitis of SACAL, a nonprofit moving successful weed-growing districts, said helium has witnessed the alteration successful the manner of the farmers.

“We started enactment successful 2000 successful the districts wherever cannabis is grown and the locals, mostly tribal, hardly had two-wheelers and lived successful mud houses. The marriages were elemental and arsenic per their tribal traditions. But everything has undergone a oversea alteration successful the past 8 to 10 years,” Nandi said.

“Each tribal household has not lone purchased 2 to 3 motorcycles but has besides built factual houses. They transportation retired matrimony ceremonies similar they are done successful different parts of the state and walk lavishly and invitation respective guests. The diminution of rebel insurgent activities successful these areas on with amended transport connectivity has besides helped traders to scope them,” helping grow the marketplace for this banned product, helium said.

Police raids

Cannabis cultivation is presently progressive successful six districts of Odisha state: Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Boudh and Kandhamal, each of which person mountainous and hilly terrain.

Police with seized cannabis [Courtesy of Odisha Police]

Senior authorities constabulary officials told Al Jazeera they are putting successful their champion effort to halt the amerciable commercialized and person seized astir 600 tonnes of cannabis successful the 3 years until 2023, goods worthy $200m, and person besides arrested 8,500 cause traffickers. Of that cause haul, constabulary got their largest one-time drawback past twelvemonth erstwhile they seized 185,400kg (408,737lb) of cannabis worthy astir $55m.

The constabulary person besides destroyed astir 28,000 hectares (70,000 acres) of cannabis plantations successful Odisha from 2021 to 2023, the highest for cannabis successful the country, JN Pankaj, a erstwhile inspector wide of the Special Task Force of the Odisha Police, told Al Jazeera.

In the archetypal 7 months of 2024, his squad seized 102,200kg (225,312lb) of cannabis worthy astir $30m, helium said.

“We usage drones and adjacent outer images to way the planting areas and destruct them. The situation for america is not the hilly terrains but the usage of landmine explosives successful these areas,” which person traditionally been hideouts for rebel groups, Pankaj said, adding: “That poses a terrible hazard to the lives of our team.”

And adjacent though his squad has chopped down the plantation areas to 8 from 12 a fewer years ago, the immense request and astronomical prices this cause fetches are helping the commercialized thrive, helium said. For instance, portion traders procure cannabis from farmers for astir 1,000 rupees ($12) per kilogramme, it is sold astatine 25,000 rupees ($298) per kilogramme successful the large cities of India.

Alternative livelihood

Several farmers who were earlier progressive successful this commercialized conceded to Al Jazeera that they had discontinue owed to excessive constabulary patrolling.

Ajay Rout, a tribal farmer, grows astir 1,000 cannabis trees and has bought a motorcycle from his accrued income [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]

“They travel and destruct our plantation, causing terrible losses to us, and besides marque arrests. We cannot spend to walk excessively overmuch wealth successful ineligible expenses and don’t privation the disruption to household life,” said Prabhat Rout, 50, a husbandman successful confederate Odisha who, aft 5 years of cultivating cannabis, switched to increasing millet instead.

“Though it’s not arsenic profitable arsenic weed, it is escaped from immoderate headache,” helium explained.

Millet is an past atom successful immoderate parts of confederate India that national and authorities governments are trying to revive.

Odisha offers escaped seeds for sowing, and the authorities purchases the harvest from the farmers, incentives that person helped lure farmers to the harvest and marque Odisha a important subordinate successful millet production.

For Rout, however, nary cultivation tin lucifer the nett of cannabis. “The farmers are shifting retired of fear, but the income from millets cannot lucifer the nett from cannabis. I americium taking the hazard arsenic it’s worthy it,” helium said arsenic helium starts the pugnacious trek to his fields nether cloud-filled skies.

Editor’s note: The names of each the farmers successful the communicative person been changed to support their identities.