What Is Killing Afghanistan's Poppy Fields, And Will The Taliban Benefit?

Mysterious Blight Destroys Afghan Poppy Harvest -- New York Times

Up to one-third of Afghanistan’s poppy harvest this spring has been destroyed by a mysterious disease, according to estimates revealed Wednesday by United Nations officials, potentially complicating the American and NATO military offensives this summer in the country’s opium-producing heartland.

The Taliban’s public relations strategy against the offensives includes trying to convince local residents that Western troops will destroy their poppy crops, and in recent weeks Afghan farmers have started blaming the American and NATO militaries for spreading the disease, United Nations officials say. In many places, the blight has wiped out more than half of individual poppy fields.

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More News On Afghanistan's Poppy Crop

Fungus hits Afghan opium poppies -- BBC
Blight devastates Afghan poppy crop; prices soar -- AP
Fungus afflicts Afghan opium poppies -- CBC
Fungus hits Afghan opium poppies -- BBC
Afghanistan opium poppies hit by mysterious disease -- AFP
Mystery disease blights Afghan opium poppies -- The Guardian
Mystery fungus smacks Afghan opium poppies -- The Register
Afghanistan: Fungus Afflicts Poppy Crop, Farmers Blame US, NATO -- Stop The Drug War

Taliban to cash in as blight boosts price of Afghan heroin -- The Independent
Poppy Blight Hurts Farmers, but Taliban Stand to Gain -- Wall Street Journal
Afghan Opium and Uzbekistan-Related Conspiracy Theories -- Registan
Bio-control of Afghan opium crop? - May 13, 2010 -- Nature