Print

Mail

wiki links

Opium cultivation doubles in territory

Opium cultivation in north-eastern Afghanistan in territory controlled by the Northern Alliance doubled last year, the UN said on Sunday.

After the Taliban issued an edict banning farmers from growing poppies drug barons pushed their business into Badakshan, the mountainous province under opposition control. Now more than 80 per cent of poppy fields in Afghanistan are in Badakshan, the UN drug control program (UNDCP) said in a report.

The findings are likely to be a source of concern to many western governments, who expect the Northern Alliance to play a role in a future Kabul government.

Bernard Frahi, head of UNDCP in Pakistan, said suppliers moved into Badakshan early in the year, frustrated by the Taliban ban on opium production.

"In February and March suppliers went and gave a high incentive to farmers in the form of cash advances and high prices for the forthcoming harvests," he said. "The price of opium in Badakshan is now 10 times what it was a year before."

The annual survey showed the area under cultivation in Badakshan rose from 2,458 hectares last year to 6,342 hectares. In contrast the vast poppy fields under Taliban control in southern Afghanistan were virtually all replanted with wheat.

The total production of opium in Afghanistan slid dramatically from 3,276 tonnes last year to 185 tonnes this year because of the impact of the Taliban edict. That was still worth US$56 million.

"This was the one success story in Afghanistan," Frahi said. "It came after three years of dialogue with the Taliban."

Now the future of the ban appears to be in doubt. In Taliban- controlled areas the price of opium has tumbled from US$600 a kilogram in August to US$90 last week.

Frahi said the price had fallen because many expected the Taliban ban to lapse during the conflict. "People feel the Taliban will not be able to impose the ban and therefore there will be a large supply."
This story has been viewed 1924 times.