Description . Poppy is an annual herbaceous plant with an erect stem covered with a wax coating from the poppy family (Papaveraceae), 1.01.5 m high. The root is taproot, deep into the soil (up to 1 m and deeper). Basal leaves are elongated, arranged in a spiral, 2030 cm long. Stem leaves are broadly lanceolate or ovate, amplexicaul, sessile with jagged edges, 1520 cm long. The flowers are large, of different shades from white to dark purple. Blossoms in June, and the seeds ripen in July-August. The fruit is a multi-seeded box of spherical or oblong shape, which, when the seeds ripen, remains “deaf”, that is, closed. In this poppy sleeping pills differs from semi-cultural self-seeds with opening boxes. Weight of 1000 seeds 0.350.50 g.
\rbiological features. Poppy shoots develop slowly and are easily drowned out by weeds. But they are resistant to cold snap and even endure small frosts. Later poppy requires moderate temperature and sufficient soil moisture. Dry warm weather during the flowering period contributes to an increase in the content of morphine in the boxes.
\rSpreading. In the USSR, sleeping pill poppy is not found in the wild. His homeland is considered Western Asia. Poppy culture dates back to prehistoric times.
\r\rIn the process of centuries-old culture, two groups of poppies sharply separated in terms of economic characteristics: opium and oilseeds. Varieties of the opium poppy are characterized by a well-developed lactic system, which gives a lot of milky juice, and large bolls. They are cultivated for the purpose of obtaining opium (the dried milky juice of the poppy).
\rIn varieties of the oilseed group, the lactic system is poorly developed. Flower petals have all sorts of shades: from pink to dark purple with deaf (non-cracking) boxes. Poppies in this group are cultivated for seeds used as food and for the production of morphine from mature, seed-free bolls.
\rIn the USSR, the opium poppy is cultivated mainly in the regions of the Kirghiz and Kazakh SSRs, with their dry and hot climates.
\rOilseed poppy, less demanding on soil and climatic conditions, occupies large areas mainly in Ukraine, Voronezh, Kuibyshev regions, Bashkir, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics and Western Siberia.
\rComposition of active substances. Opium is a complex mixture of organic and mineral substances: alkaloids, proteins, carbohydrates, mucus, organic acids, etc. Poppy pods contain 825% opium. The content of morphine in opium is 0.22%.
\rApplication. In the Soviet Union, within 20% of all drugs manufactured by pharmacies, opium or its main alkaloids—morphine, codeine, narcotine, papaverine, and others—are contained. Opium is used to produce hydrochloric acid morphine and papaverine, codeine phosphate, olenopon, and dionine.
\rThe most important of the opium alkaloids, morphine is a powerful pain reliever. The disadvantage of morphine, forcing to limit its use, is its effect on the cerebral cortex, leading “to a state of contentment (euphoria). There is a constant desire to use the product, which leads to the development of morphinism, to a mental disorder. Therefore, the use of morphine, also products in which Morphine is used as a pain reliever by subcutaneous injection for angina pectoris, pneumonia, and in the form of powders, lozenges, etc. Codeine is also a powerful pain reliever and narcotic, and is often used in the form of various salts and in pure form of cough as a sedative.
\rOpium is used for neuralgia, hyperesthesia, tetanus, etc. Its main pharmaceutical products are opium tincture, opium extract, opium powder and extract, and daver powder.
\rAgrotechnics for the cultivation of oilseed poppy . Site selection. Poppy requires fertile soils with good physical properties. The most favorable for it are light chernozems, light loams and fertile sandy loamy soils. The best predecessors are considered to be winter crops that go through fertilized fallows, row crops and grain crops in areas with sufficient application of organic and mineral fertilizers, and clean fallows, as well as sugar beet, on weedy soils.
\rSoil tillage . If poppies are sown later on crops that empty the field early (for example, winter crops harvested for green fodder or vetch-oat fallow), semi-fallow processing is done.
\rIf it is sown later in winter, after stubble hulling, autumn plowing should be carried out to a depth of 2527 cm.
\rApplication of fertilizers . Under autumn plowing, 1015 g / ha of manure or compost and full mineral fertilizer are applied at the rate of nitrogen and phosphorus 60 each and potassium 45 kg / ha of the active substance.
\rDuring sowing, 30 kg/ha of granular superphosphate is applied to the rows. When 68 true leaves appear in plants, 45 kg/ha are applied, and 30 kg/ha of ammonium nitrate is added to the second top dressing before stalking.
\rReproduction. Oilseed poppy is sown directly into the ground in spring or late autumn with a row spacing of 35 cm. Spring sowing is done as early as possible with grain seeders with limiters. The depth of seeding with all this is up to 1.53.0 cm, in the fall they are sown without seeding.
\rPlantation care . In order to destroy weeds and crusts, harrowing is carried out with light or medium harrows across the rows even before germination. Then the soil is loosened, weeds are pulled out and seedlings are thinned out or bouquets are made, which, together with thinning, contribute to the destruction of weeds and reduce labor costs for caring for plantations. Bouqueting is carried out when two or three pairs of true leaves appear on the plants, leaving 1820 plants per linear meter of rows.
\rHarvesting of oil poppy pods is carried out during the period of full ripeness of the seeds, when, when shaking, a noise is heard from pouring the seeds inside the pods, and the pods themselves become yellow-brown in color. Harvested with grain combines in dry weather.
\rDrying. The harvested mass is immediately sent to covered currents, where the crushed boxes are separated from the seeds on grain cleaning machines and dried at a temperature of 6070 ° C. For food and technical purposes, commercial seeds are dried in a grain dryer FZPB-2 at a temperature of 3540 ° C. At the same time, air humidity in dryer should not exceed 90%, otherwise the seeds may become steamed. After drying, the seeds are cooled by shoveling.
\rPack. Poppy boxes with the upper parts of the stems, freed from seeds, are packed in bags of 1530 kg.
\rStorage. Store in a dry, well-ventilated area.
\rquality requirements. The raw material of oilseed poppy, according to VTU MZ 3758, should be dry pods crushed into pieces (of which there should be at least 60%), stems and leaves. The outer surface of the boxes and stems must have a color from light yellow to grayish brown, the inner surface is light yellow, and the leaves are grayish brown. Allowed: moisture 14%; common ash12; crushed parts passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 1 mm, 10; organic impurities 3, mineral 1%. The content of morphine in terms of absolutely dry weight is not less than 0.25%.
\rAgrotechnics of opium poppy cultivation has some specific features. It is cultivated mainly in the Kirghiz SSR on mountain-valley irrigated chestnut soils. The best are light and medium loamy soils with a deep arable layer. Poppy is also grown in the conditions of the Kazakh SSR (mainly on sierozem soils).
\rThe best predecessors are sainfoin, vetch-oat mixture, winter wheat, walking on sainfoin and well fertilized with organic fertilizers.
\rSoil cultivation. Under irrigation conditions, where the soil is strongly compacted after the predecessor, pre-arable irrigation is carried out at the rate of 10,001,500 m 3 /ha of water. This is followed by deep autumn plowing with simultaneous harrowing and leveling of the fall in order to save moisture.
\rApplication of fertilizers. To obtain a high yield for autumn plowing, the Przhevalsk Experimental Breeding Station recommends applying 2030 t/ha of manure or 56 t/ha of chicken manure, or 56 t/ha of sheep manure. When sowing, granulated superphosphate is added to the rows at the rate of 810 kg/ha, during the formation of a rosette of leaves, 3045 kg/ha of ammonium nitrate.
\rIt is sown very early so that the moisture of the upper layer of the soil can be used and the destructive effect of dry winds and drought can be avoided. Poppy is sown with seeders SON-2.8, SOSSh-2.8, also with grain seeders at a row spacing of 60 cm and a seeding depth of 23 cm, which is regulated by depth limiters with flanges; seeding rate 3 kg/ha. Since crops can sometimes be uneven or thickened, they are made 2-line to avoid this.
\rPlantation care consists in seeding crops to a depth of 45 cm immediately upon emergence of seedlings with simultaneous weeding in rows. When 2-3 pairs of true leaves appear on the plant, bouquets are made according to the scheme: the length of the cut is 16.5 cm, the length of the remaining bouquet is 15 cm.
\rIn the conditions of the Kirghiz and Kazakh SSRs, the amount of precipitation is far from sufficient for growing large crops of poppy, therefore, in addition to water-charging pre-arable irrigation, one more three irrigations are carried out during the growing season.
\rHarvest. Collection of raw opium. For opium, incised boxes are collected. Incision is a very laborious work, which is still carried out exclusively by hand. The time of technical maturity of the boxes is determined by the elasticity of their walls, the appearance of a wax coating on them and the suspension of growth. To avoid leakage of opium to the outside, the incisions should be made deep, but not through.
\rThe yield of raw opium varies from 1012 to 100 kg/ha or more, depending on soil conditions and agricultural practices.
\rGrowing seeds. To obtain seeds of the first category, seed plots are laid at the rate of 0.5 ha per 50 ha of industrial crops. Plots are laid on fertile and clean from weeds and pests fields.
\rDuring the growing season, two top dressings are carried out: one immediately after thinning the sowing with ammonium nitrate at the rate of 45 kg/ha, the second at the beginning of stalking, 30 kg/ha of nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers according to the active substance.
\rThe ripening time of poppy seeds is determined both by the change in color (from green to yellow-brown) and by the rustle of the seeds when shaken. This usually happens 10-15 days after the end of the opium harvest.
\rPoppy seeds are harvested by self-propelled harvesters when they are fully ripe. The harvested mass is immediately sent to a covered current, where the seeds are separated from the boxes and cleaned of impurities, and then subjected to solar heating and drying. After that, according to the standard, the seeds are brought to sowing conditions on grain cleaning machines.
\rquality requirements . In accordance with GOST 481351, raw opium must have the following characteristics: in appearance, a semi-liquid mass from light to dark brown in color; the smell is peculiar, the taste is bitter. Allowed: moisture 45%; total ash 6; morphine is not less than 11; codeine not less than 1%.
\rPack. Semi-liquid opium is packed in tin or aluminum cans with a capacity of 40 kg.
\rStorage. Opium is stored in dry, cold rooms in sealed cans in compliance with the rules for storing narcotic drugs.