Poppy cultivation in Myanmar’s Chin along Manipur up 26%: UN report

The total opium poppy cultivation area in Chin state of Myanmar, which borders Manipur, has gone up by 26 per cent to 1,040 hectares in 2025 from 832 hectares in 2024, according to the UN’s Myanmar Opium Survey 2025, even as the overall cultivation area of the entire country rose by 17 per cent from 45,200 hectares in 2024 to 53,100 hectares.

These figures have come amid reports of rising illegal opium cultivation in Manipur in the last few years, where the total area under illegal cultivation in 2023-24 in the state was 45.68 sq km (approximately 11,288 acres), according to the data from Manipur Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC). This in other words, hints at rampant illegal opium trade in the troubled state from across the border.

Significantly, three districts of Manipur which share their borders with Myanmar have the highest cultivation area of poppy as per the MRSAC data. These are Ukhrul with 6.47 sq km (1,598 acres) of area under illegal opium poppy cultivation, Churachandpur with 6.02 sq km (1,487 acres) and Kamjong with 4.21 sq km or 1,040 acres.

Raging issue in strife-torn state

Illegal poppy opium cultivation is a raging issue in strife-torn Manipur, as thousands of hectares is seized by security forces almost on a daily basis

According to reports, security forces intercept around 10-20 kg of heroin (derived from opium poppy plant) on a daily basis along Myanmar border

According to the UN report, among all five states of Myanmar, Chin recorded the highest growth of 26 per cent in illegal cultivation area of opium in one year, even as the overall growth in the cultivation area was 17 per cent for the entire country during the same period.

Even in terms of potential dry opium production, the Chin State recorded the highest 9 per cent growth over 2024 among all states, from 18 metric tonnes to 20 metric tonnes. Overall, the total potential dry opium production of Myanmar rose by just 1 per cent from 995 metric tonnes to 1,010 metric tonnes.

The UN report said: “Four years after the military takeover in Myanmar, opium poppy cultivation continues to expand and has reached a 10-year high. The 2025 survey shows opium poppy cultivation has reached its highest level since 2015, with an increase in the area under cultivation of 17 per cent to 53,100 hectares from 45,200 hectares in 2024. All states and regions observed as part of the survey recorded an increase in cultivation area, with the highest increases in East Shan and Chin at 32 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively, and the lowest increase in Kachin at 3 per cent.”

It further said Myanmar remained the world’s known leading source of illegally produced opium

At 1,010 metric tonnes in 2025, the estimated opium output in Myanmar is now more than twice that of Afghanistan, making it the world’s leading known source of illicitly produced opium.

This, it said, followed further decreases in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan following the 2022 ban on opium production in the country which for many years was the source for over 80 per cent of the world’s illegal opium supply.

Illegal poppy opium cultivation is a raging issue in strife-torn Manipur, as thousands of hectares of such cultivations are seized by security forces almost on a daily basis there.

According to rough estimates, security forces intercept around 10 kg to up to 20 kg of heroin (which is derived from opium poppy plant) on a daily basis in Manipur along the Myanmar border.

In this context, the UN report’’s figures of rising opium poppy cultivation is a matter of concern for India.