Afghanistan on course for record opium crop, says UN

By Aunohita Mojumdar in Kabul
Financial TimesPublished:
Aug 28, 2007
This year's opium harvest in Afghanistan is projected to reach record levels, up 34 per cent on 2006, with Helmand province "single-handedly" becoming the world's largest source of illicit drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said yesterday.
Better yields have combined with a 17 per cent increase in land under cultivation to undermine poppy- eradication efforts and produce a record harvest of 8,200 tonnes. Afghanistan accounted for 92 per cent of global production, with an area of opium cultivation larger than the combined coca cultivation area in Latin America, said UNODC.
Most of the increased production is concentrated in unstable southern provinces, which account for 80 per cent of cultivation. The largest rise has been in the volatile province of Helmand, where British troops are fighting insurgency.
The number of northern and central provinces free of opium doubled to 13. In Balkh, a northern province, opium cultivation has been cut to zero from 7,200 hectares last year.
Antonio Maria Costa, UNODC's executive director, said poverty could not be used as an excuse since the south had some of the country's most fertile land and provinces in the centre and north had half the per capita income of the south.
Poppy-growing was linked to insecurity and inversely related to the degree of government control. Mr Costa has called for higher rewards for non-opium farmers and warned that delay in disbursing assistance could lead to opium-free provinces sliding back to poppy cultivation. Calling for greater deterrents to planting poppies, he urged an end to practices enabling rich land-lords to evade eradication.
The total area under op-ium cultivation rose from 165,000 ha to 193,000 ha, with Helmand alone ac-counting for 102,770 ha, a rise of 48 per cent over last year.
Mr Costa called on Nato to extend active support to anti-narcotic operations. Nato forces have so far steered clear of dealing with the issue on the grounds that it is a task primarily for the police. He would take up the issue during the meeting of the Nato council in Brussels on September 5.
He also urged the Afghan government to submit the names of known traffickers to the UN Security Council for inclusion alongside al-Qaeda and Taliban members on a list of those barred from travelling, who have their assets seized and face extradition.