Question

Mention 4 reasons why the cultivators were unwilling to grow opium. How were they influence to produce opium

Answer 1

1.  The crop had to be grown on fertile and well-irrigated land. If opium was planted on this land, then crops like pulses could not be grown there. Pulses then had to be grown on inferior land, where harvests were poor and uncertain.

2.Many cultivators owned no land. They had to pay rent and lease land from landlords, who charged very high rent. Peasants and farmers were unable to pay the rent for this land.

3. Opium was a very delicate plant. It required lots of care and time. Because of this, farmers had no time to care for other crops.

4. The price paid to the cultivators for opium was very low. It was unprofitable for the farmers to grow opium at that price.

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Unwilling cultivators were made to produce opium through a system of advances. The village headmen or mahato gave advances to the farmers to produce it.  The farmers were tempted to accept the loan, as they thought it could satisfy their immediate needs and they can repay the loan later.

It was the government agents who provided the money to the village headmen.

By accepting the loan, the cultivators were forced to grow opium on a specified piece of land. He did not have the option of growing anything else on that land or sell the produce to anyone and had to accept the low payments offered by the government.

Answer 2

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(i) The crop had to be grown on the best land, on fields that lay near villages and were well manured. On this land, villagers usually produced pulses. If they planted opium on this land, pulses could not be grown there.

(ii) Many cultivators owned no land. To cultivate, they had to pay rent to the landlord for the lease land. And the rent charged on good land near the villages was very high.

(iii) The cultivation of opium was a difficult process. The plant was delicate and the cultivators had to spend long hours in nurturing it.

(iv) The price government paid to the cultivators for opium was very low. It was unprofitable for cultivators to grow opium at that price.