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The cultivation of illegal opium has increased in Burma for a sixth successive year, fuelled in part by rising demand for heroin across Asia, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
7:23AM GMT 31 Oct 2012
A poppy farmer cuts opium buds to collect resin in an opium poppy field in the hills of the south Shan State, Myanmar Photo: EPA
The upsurge comes despite a government campaign to eradicate the crop from the
Southeast Asian nation, which has won praise worldwide for taking major
steps toward democratic reform after the long-ruling military junta ceded
power last year.
Burma is the world's second-largest producer of opium after Afghanistan,
accounting for about 25 per cent of global poppy production, according to
the UN.
The rise in output of opium – the raw ingredient used to make heroin – was documented in the latest annual survey by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
The report said farmland under opium cultivation rose by 17 per cent this year, up from about nearly 100,000 acres in 2011 to 126,000 acres in 2012.
Burma's illegal crop is farmed mostly in Kachin and Shan States. The two areas, located along the country's borders with China, Thailand and Laos, have been plagued by fighting between insurgent groups and the army.
Poppy is highly lucrative for impoverished farmers in need of cash, and the
fact it can fetch as much as 19 times that of rice poses a huge challenge to
government efforts to eradicate it.
The estimated 690 metric tons produced in Burma in 2012 was valued at roughly $359 million, the report said. That output was up from an estimated 610 metric tons last year.
"One probable factor behind the resurgence in opium production in Southeast Asia is the demand for opiates, both locally and in the region in general," the report said.
The vast majority of consumers are in China, with opiate users in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean region accounting for about one quarter of the world's total.
The swathe of southeast Asia where the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos meet is known as the Golden Triangle. It produced more than half of the world's opium in 1990 and one third in 1998.
A year later, Burma set out to become opium-free by 2014. That campaign had made considerable strides, but production has risen every year since 2006 as demand and prices grew.
The latest U.N. survey indicated the government has stepped up efforts to curtail output.
Citing government figures, the report said the government had eradicated poppies on about 24,000 hectares of land in 2012, compared to 7,000 hectares the previous year.
The 236 per cent increase "is a significant increase on the area reported as eradicated in previous years."
Source: agencies
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9644746/Opium-cultivation-increases-for-sixth-year-in-Burma-according-to-UN-report.html
The estimated 690 metric tons produced in Burma in 2012 was valued at roughly $359 million, the report said. That output was up from an estimated 610 metric tons last year.
"One probable factor behind the resurgence in opium production in Southeast Asia is the demand for opiates, both locally and in the region in general," the report said.
The vast majority of consumers are in China, with opiate users in East Asia and the Pacific Ocean region accounting for about one quarter of the world's total.
The swathe of southeast Asia where the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos meet is known as the Golden Triangle. It produced more than half of the world's opium in 1990 and one third in 1998.
A year later, Burma set out to become opium-free by 2014. That campaign had made considerable strides, but production has risen every year since 2006 as demand and prices grew.
The latest U.N. survey indicated the government has stepped up efforts to curtail output.
Citing government figures, the report said the government had eradicated poppies on about 24,000 hectares of land in 2012, compared to 7,000 hectares the previous year.
The 236 per cent increase "is a significant increase on the area reported as eradicated in previous years."
Source: agencies
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/9644746/Opium-cultivation-increases-for-sixth-year-in-Burma-according-to-UN-report.html
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