Afion and Macedonian culture of poppy cultivation
Visit to south Macedonian territory, Tikveš. Known for its famous vineyards but, less famous for its culture of poppy cultivation (Papaver somniferum cv. macedonica).
During the 20th century, Macedonia was known throughout Europe for its opium! In the opium drug industry, which flourished in the first half of the 20th century, one of the key places was opium, not only legal, but also on the black market, new research by historians shows.
Macedonian medicinal opium, produced from poppies, which was placed on the world market due to its extremely high quality, was first purchased by leading European pharmaceutical companies, and after 1928 almost the entire Yugoslav production of opium was taken over by American companies, according to "Hrvatski časopis".
Opium producers in Povardarje between the two world wars covered 43% of the demand of the legal world processing industry, while the later Turkish-Yugoslav co-operation covered as much as 80% of the world's needs.
Geological miracle and early cultivation
Thanks to the geological predispositions of the Macedonian land and the specific climate, the cultivation of poppies became a promising activity in the beginning of the 19th century, in which the Turks saw a "shortcut" for the economic launch of Macedonia and the increase in the profitability of Turkish possessions. The first poppy was sown in 1835. in the vicinity of Štip, and the anecdote says that poppy seeds were brought in a gun barrel. Abdul Hešan Halil, the flag bearer of Koča, and a certain Ali Simon Zade, who sowed the first seeds in Kavadar, are mentioned as the first poppy growers.
In the eighties of the 19th century, the peasants in the Štip area, according to the instructions of the Thessaloniki merchants, nurtured the plant, harvested the tar and made good money for it. The news about the strange plant spread quickly, so the valley of Tikveša and Rajac became white with endless fields of flowers. Given that the Macedonian subspecies of poppy was created by crossing white and purple-gray poppies, many conclude that an expert actively participated in the establishment of the first experimental fields. The good side of growing poppies was reflected in the fact that after its harvest another crop could be sown, so that two harvests could be obtained from the same area in the same year.
Expanding the production
The first statistical data show that in 1880., 70 tons were produced in the Vardar valley, that in 1893. alone, 19 tons were exported through the port of Thessaloniki, and that the following year production reached 79 tons of raw opium. In the Ottoman Empire at the time, 28% of the entire Turkish production was grown in the area of Povardarje alone, although even then the habit of producers to increase the weight of goods with various additives, adding fried bread, boiled starch and the like, was noted.
The opium cultivation zone of the Yugoslav kingdom covered 14,000 hectares in 40 municipalities of Povardarje. Thanks to the favorable soil and river deposits, Macedonian opium was among the highest quality in the world because it contained 14-16% morphine. For example, the Chinese had only 3-5% morphine, so it is no wonder that it was in great demand in France, Germany and Switzerland. The largest percentage of morphine contained opium grown in the vicinity of Kavadar, Strumica and Veles, while it was somewhat poorer in the Prilep and Kočan regions.
During his stay in Skopje, the French botanist Emil Pero said that "the poppy from South Serbia gives the best opium"
In addition to opium, edible oil from the poppy was also obtained, which made up half of the poppy seeds. Poppy culture required good land preparation, but also precise "timing" and strict adherence to deadlines: from sowing at the end of August, weeding and thinning at the beginning of March, to dusting the plant at the end of March and cutting the pods at the beginning of June. Production costs for poppy cultivation amounted to about 5,000 dinars per hectare, from which 10-20 kg of opium was obtained. In addition to the legal restrictions (which will be discussed later), yields of poppy resin were periodically absent due to bad climatic conditions, resin leaching and locust infestation.
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