Tasmanian opium poppy farming industry

The Tasmanian opium poppy farming industry was established in Tasmania in 1966.

Farms in Tasmania produce about 50% of the world's licit poppy straw that is later refined into opiates such as morphine and codeine.

Tasmanian Alkaloids is Tasmania's largest corporate grower of opium poppies.

A downy mildew outbreak in the 2014 poppy-growing season led to one Tasmanian company to look into growing poppies in the Northern Territory and Victoria of Australia.