Photo courtesy of the Central Bureau of Narcotics. Note the distance between the crop fields. Most poppies have a white bloom, but one red appeared in the field. A close-up of this blossom and field appears later. After the petals fall from the poppy, the pod, which is about the size of a golf ball, is lanced, and the opium latex is exuded.
Poppies are lanced in the afternoonand the latex is scraped off the next morning.
Peasants hope for calm, dry days during lancing season. Rain washes the latex off the pod, while friction of pods in the wind rubs the latex off . Each pod can be lanced from 4 to 7 times. The lancing takes a great deal of time and attention. Several pods can be scraped before the opium is placed into a container.