Afghan 2008 Opium Crop Was Second Biggest: U.N. Report

Captain James Bewley in an Afghan poppy field, April 2007.
(Photo from London Scottish Regiment)

From Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) - Afghanistan's opium harvest fell in 2008 after international efforts to persuade farmers to switch crops but was still the second biggest on record, a United Nations body said on Thursday.

While the area under cultivation was reduced by a fifth, better yields meant production dropped only 6 percent to 7,700 tons, after a record 8,200 tons in 2007, the U.N.'s International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report.

More than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion, Afghanistan still grows more than 90 percent of the world's illegal opium poppies, the source of heroin.

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My Comment: I doubt that such records are going to be met this year. With NATO now being determined to stop this trade, there will not only be a drop in production, but an escalation in the conflict.