Vietnam Eliminates Opium Crops in Northern Provinces

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 02, 2002

Vietnam Eliminates Opium Crops in Northern Provinces

The opium poppy acreage in Vietnam's northern mountainous provinces have reduced by 30 percent to 323.6 hectares (ha) in the 2000-2001 crop, according to a report of Vietnam's official news agency VNA on Tuesday.

Implementing the government's decision to eradicate opium poppy,the country's 13,000 ha of opium poppy in 1993 has been considerably narrowed.

However, eliminating opium crops remains a difficult job due tothe re-cultivation of opium poppy by local people.

Among northern mountainous provinces, Son La by now has up to 214 ha, and it is followed by Lai Chau, 81 ha, and Yen Bai, 8.2 ha.

For sustainable elimination of opium poppy crop and poverty reduction in 186 communes which have began to re-plant opium poppy,the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has worked out a program of supplying food on time, recommending proper crops to replace opium poppy and transferring technology for the mountainous areas.

The Vietnamese government has asked local authorities to take drastic measures to prevent the opium poppy re-planting.

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