Poppy Plants
This year was a very good year for poppy seed season in Afghanistan. The small province of Nangarhar, in the southeast corner of the country along the Pakistani boarder, suffered a tough season last year as poppy seed production decreased by 96%. Fortunately, this year the production increased by 350%. This is good for the drug officials of Afghanistan, but it worries many of the political powers in Afghanistan who are trying to turn the nation around. The governor of Nangarhar, Deen Muhammad, is trying to get farmers to quit growing poppy, and threatens them by governmental punishment. The problem is the substitution crop for poppy is wheat, and the demand for wheat equals out to selling for ten times less than poppy does. So, most people end up illegally growing and selling poppy anyways.
1 comment:
It is unfortunate that growing opium poppies is so much more profitable for poor Afghani farmers than food crops. The extensive production of poppy in Afghanistan, the number one producer of opium in the world, ultimately supplies drug users and dealers with opium and heroin, which in turn degrades American society.
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