Afghan farmers turn away from opium
By Jon Boone in Kabul and Stephen Fidler in London
Published: April 23 2008 17:52 | Last updated: April 23 2008 17:52
Afghanistan’s opium crop is forecast to shrink by as much as half this year after 2007’s record harvest, counter-narcotics officials in Kabul said, as evidence emerges that some poppy farmers are switching to legal crops because of rising food prices.
The country produced an estimated 93 per cent of the world’s opium last year, with output rising almost every year since the Taliban was ousted in 2001. The expected fall in opium production of 30-50 per cent is not a result of international anti-narcotics efforts, but mainly because of an unusually cold and dry winter that has disrupted the germination of poppy seeds. Officials say the area under cultivation remains close to last year’s record 193,000 hectares, but aerial photography has shown the fields contain fewer, smaller plants.
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