The «Maral» opium poppy variety – a domestic opium poppy developed by the State Unitary Enterprise «Endofarm» in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. It provides productivity up to 500 kg/hectare, which allows obtaining a sufficient volume of raw material for the production of morphine hydrochloride and simultaneously meets the needs for food-grade seeds.
In the Bryansk region, experimental planting of the «Maral» variety was carried out on areas of about 400 hectares, where agricultural technologies for cultivating and processing poppy straw were worked out. The agricultural branch «Endofarm Agro» has more than 7,000 hectares, as well as a fleet of agricultural machinery and a complex for industrial extraction of opium alkaloids. Technologies for processing poppy straw are being developed in this branch and allow obtaining high-quality pharmaceutical substances.
The «Maral» variety is characterized by a low content of alkaloids, which makes it less attractive for illegal use. Thanks to this, it has been included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements Admitted for Use. Extraction technologies allow producing morphine hydrochloride from low-alkaloid raw material with high quality.
The project provides for the creation of an industrial complex for the production of pharmaceutical substances from plant and animal raw materials, which is planned to be commissioned by 2025. As part of the project, large-scale production of no less than 60 types of active pharmaceutical substances per year is planned, which will ensure the localization of production of opium medicinal preparations and strengthen the country's medicinal safety.
