Natural disasters of all kinds torment the world without concern for safety and whereabouts. In the United States alone, 90% of natural disasters declared by the President involve some manner of flooding. In other countries, natural disasters often take different forms. One strange scourge has hit India recently that has experts scratching their collective heads.
Where here we might decry a pestilence of the 3,000 mosquito species, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, poppy farmers have been dealing with legions of parrots hooked on opium. The legal production of opium bearing poppy flowers spans vast acreage across the state, but large portions of poppy crops have been laid waste to by drug addicted parrots seeking their fix.
“One poppy flower gives around 20 to 25 grams of opium. But a large group of parrots feed on these plants around 30 to 40 times a day and some even fly away with poppy pods. This affects the produce. These opium-addicted parrots are wreaking havoc,” said poppy farmer Nandkishore.
Some reports say the parrots would fly off after consuming the plants and fly errantly under the effects of the drug. And while 45% of Americans might have trouble falling asleep, this opium-addled avian cohort had no trouble lying sleepily in adjacents fields until the effects wore off, only to come back for more.
The poppy popping parrots have been a problem all over the state and even in the neighboring state and fellow poppy producer Rajasthan. With a serious lack of rainfall not helping, the added pestilence of parrots has farmers at wit’s end trying to maintain their crop and still turn a profit.
“We have tried making loud sounds and even use firecrackers to scare the birds. But nothing has helped. We are already suffering because of uneven rain, and now this. Nobody is listening to our problems. Who will compensate for our losses?” lamented Nandkishore.
Without help from authorities, poppy farmers are faced with a nearly impossible task. Keeping birds out of massive fields. It’s obviously impossible to cover acres of poppy fields with netting, so people are tasked with standing guard day and night to scare the parrots away from their quarry. Naturally, this is only partially possible, extremely tiring, marginally effective, and incredibly time-consuming.
Plus, the parrots won’t let up. The way the chemical affects them is interesting, as Dr. R.S. Chundawat, Opium Specialist from Horticulture College, Mandsaur notes:
“Opium gives the bird instant energy, much like a human intakes tea or coffee to derive instant energy. Once the feeling is experienced by the winged creatures, they have fallen prey to the addiction.”
That makes sense. Human beings can barely go a few hours without their coffee. If such a comparison can be made, can we even blame the parrots’ propensity to prey upon poppies? We hardly think so. Still, one must think of the farmers, because this current dilemma isn’t getting any better by the day.