Odisha, India – Ajay Raut is an indigenous farmer in a remote village in the southern region of Odisha state in India.

The village is surrounded by forests and hills and the nearest market is 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away.

The 34-year-old grows sweet corn and vegetables on 0.2 hectare (0.5 acre) for his family to eat and sell at the market.

Root said that this income was meager, so he resorted to growing cannabis, which is an illegal drug, to obtain a better income.

He has about 1,000 cannabis plants located deep in the hills, which require at least a two-hour trek each way to reach because the road is full of rocks and boulders, making it almost impossible for him to ride his bike or motorcycle.

Cultivation of hemp – also known as hemp, marijuana, weed and ganja – is legal for medical use only in several states, including Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu. Odisha is not one of them.

India did not have any legislation on cannabinoids until November 1985 when it passed a law that included a ban on the use of cannabis.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985 makes it illegal for any person to cultivate, possess, sell, buy or consume narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and doing so can result in severe fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years.

Risky but profitable

Root, who has been working in the industry for the past eight years, spent three months in prison in 2017 and has been out on bail since. The income from work, which is huge for him, overcomes the fear of getting involved in it.

“We live in a hilly area where traditional farming is very limited in scale. I barely earn Rs 30,000 [$357] Annually by growing vegetables and sweet corn while I can easily earn Rs 500,000 [$5,962] “In just five to six months in growing cannabis,” he told Al Jazeera after confirming that his real name would not be revealed.

Root said he and other cannabis growers generally choose remote, hilly locations for their farms to protect themselves from police raids. “We are lucky to live in the middle of the hills because the police do not raid here because the road is very difficult to reach the farm area,” he said.

The planting season begins at the end of July. Usually, it takes five months for the flowers to grow, and they are then picked, dried in the sun, packaged and sold to merchants. An 8- to 10-foot (2.4 to 3 m) plant produces one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cannabis at a cost of 500 to 600 rupees ($5.8 to $7) per kilogram. Farmers sell this to traders for 1,000 to 1,500 rupees ($12 to 18) per kilogram.

“But not all trees give equal yields and most of them do not bear any flowers at all. Heavy rains are damaging the crop,” said Dipankar Nayak, 37, a farmer.

Change in lifestyle

Hemp cultivation, though banned in Odisha, is a very lucrative business for farmers and has fetched them fortunes overnight.

Subhankar Das, 38, who lives in the same village as Rout, told Al Jazeera that he recently changed the floor of his house from concrete to marble tiles from income from the illegal trade. He also bought three motorcycles. His children are enrolled in local language schools, but he plans to transfer them to English-language schools, which are much more expensive.

“I can even buy four-wheelers, I can build a luxury house, but we have to refrain from such activities as it will put us on the radar of the police who are always on alert to arrest us and destroy our fields,” Das added. “Some of us still have bought SUVs.”

NK Nandi, founder of SACAL, a non-profit organization working in weed growing areas, said he has witnessed the change in the lifestyle of farmers.

“We started working in 2000 in areas where hemp was grown, and the local people, mostly tribals, barely had two wheels and lived in mud houses. The marriages were simple and according to their tribal traditions. But everything has changed radically in the eight years,” Nandy said. to the last ten.

“Each tribal family has not only bought two or three motorcycles but has also built concrete houses. They hold marriage ceremonies like in other parts of the country and spend lavishly and invite many guests. The decline in insurgent activities in these areas coupled with improved Transportation helped merchants access it, which helped expand the market for this banned product.

Police raids

Hemp cultivation is currently active in six districts of Odisha: Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Boudh and Kandhamal, all of which have hilly and mountainous terrain.

Senior state police officials told Al Jazeera that they are doing their best to stop the illegal trade and have confiscated about 600 tons of hashish in the three years until 2023, goods worth $200 million, and have also arrested 8,500 drug dealers. Of this haul, police had the largest one-time drug bust last year when they seized 185,400 kg (408,737 lbs) of cannabis worth about $55 million.

Police also destroyed about 28,000 hectares (70,000 acres) of cannabis farms in Odisha from 2021 to 2023, the highest cannabis area in the country, G N Pankaj, former inspector general of the Special Task Force of Odisha Police, told Al Jazeera. .

He said that in the first seven months of 2024, his team seized 102,200 kilograms (225,312 pounds) of cannabis worth about $30 million.

“We are using drones and even satellite images to track and destroy farming areas. Our challenge is not the mountainous terrain but the use of landmine explosives in these areas, which have traditionally been hideouts for insurgent groups,” Pankaj said, adding: “This poses a severe threat to The life of our team.

He said that although his team reduced the farm areas to eight from 12 a few years ago, the high demand and astronomical prices this drug brings are helping the business flourish. For example, while traders buy hemp from farmers for about 1,000 rupees ($12) per kilogram, it is sold at 25,000 rupees ($298) per kilogram in major cities in India.

Alternative livelihoods

Many farmers who were previously involved in this trade admitted to Al Jazeera that they quit because of excessive police patrols.

“They came and destroyed our farm, causing huge losses to us, and also made arrests. Hemp, he turned to millet cultivation instead, “We can’t spend a lot of money on legal expenses and we don’t want to disrupt family life.”

“Although it is not as profitable as cannabis, it is headache-free,” he explained.

Millet is an ancient grain in some parts of South India that the federal and state governments are trying to revive.

Odisha offers free seeds for planting, and the state buys the crop from farmers, incentives that have helped attract farmers to the crop and make Odisha an important player in millet production.

However, for Root, no cultivation can match the profit of hemp. “Farmers are shifting out of fear, but the income from millet can’t match the profit from hemp. I’m taking the risk because it’s worth it,” he said as he began the difficult trek to his fields under cloud-filled skies.

Editor’s Note: The names of all farmers in the story have been changed to protect their identities.