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MYANMAR – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) officially announced on December 12 that Myanmar has become the largest producer of opium in the world after the military coup in Myanmar and internal instability.
Previously, Afghanistan stood as the largest producer of opium in the world, and Myanmar stood in the second position. Now, Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan to become the world’s number one country in opium production.
In 2022, after the Taliban banned the drug, opium cultivation in Afghanistan decreased by 95 percent. However, in Myanmar, where the military stole power and politics, due to social and economic instability, it became the first country in the world that produces opium. Burmese poppy farmers earn 75 percent more income than before. It is learned that there’s an average price of 355 dollars per kilogram of poppy flower. The poppy cultivation area expanded from 40,100 to 47,000 hectares, which has increased by 18 percent from year to year. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Myanmar’s current opium cultivation situation is at its highest level since 2001.
“Economic, security and governance deterioration following the military takeover in February 2021 has forced farmers in remote areas to grow opium for their livelihoods,” said UNODC Regional Representative Jeremy Douglas.
Due to the new modern agricultural techniques, poppy yield per hectare has increased by 16 percent and reached 22.9 kg, and poppy cultivation is the largest in the Myanmar border areas in northern Shan State. According to UNODC, poppy cultivation is also increasing in Chin State and Kachin State.
Escalating fighting between the junta council troops and ethnic armed forces has accelerated the expansion of poppy cultivation, Douglas said.