Mamata Banerjee asks Center to let West Bengal farmers grow poppies

Mamata Banerjee asks Center to let West Bengal farmers grow poppies

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, has asked the central government to let the state grow poppies. She says that dishes made with the seeds of poppies are an important part of Bengali cuisine. Banerjee said that poppy seeds are expensive because they are only grown in a few states.

‘Bengalis love ‘posto’. Why should it only be grown in those four? Even though it is on our menu every day, why not in West Bengal?’ said she.

Also Read | Opium farming blooms in Myanmar after military coup: UN report

‘Why will we have to pay a lot to buy ‘posto’ from other states? Why won’t it be allowed to be grown in West Bengal? I will ask opposition members to write to the Centre about it, ‘on Thursday, the CM said.

The state has been trying to get permission to grow the crop, which has a lot of rules about it.

‘We have said that the government will grow it on farms. If we can grow poppy here, we can get them for ₹ 100 per kg instead of ₹ 1,000. Sometimes, we all have to agree on what to do. Not every poppy is a drug ‘what she said.

Banerjee was talking about talks about the Food and Supplies Department’s budget. Also Read | Tobacco industry is a much bigger threat than most people realize: WTO

The chief minister also said that since the Centre gave tax breaks to ‘basmati’ rice, it should do the same for ‘gobindobhog’ and ‘tulaipanji’ rice grown in West Bengal.