Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has almost reached zero, according to a statement by the Taliban administration, which hailed a recent report by a UK-based organization, which acknowledged their efforts to eradicate it, Anadolu Agency reported.
The Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah, who issued a directive prohibiting poppy growing in April of last year, was given credit for the decline in poppy production by Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the deputy spokesperson for the Afghan Foreign Ministry.
“Following the IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) Supreme Leader’s decree, poppy cultivation has been reduced to zero. According to recent media reports, 56.2% of land in Helmand province was poppy cultivated in 2020. In contrast, it has reduced to 0.4% by 2023; in reality, it is much lesser,” Hafiz Zia Ahmad tweeted.
His statement came after Alcis, an organisations that provides geographical information services, on Tuesday, its report said the poppy cultivation reduced in the war-torn country by 80% compared to 2022.
“Yet the reality is, an effective ban on poppy cultivation has been imposed in Afghanistan in 2023, and opium production will be negligible compared to 2022,” said illicit drugs expert David Mansfield in a report citing satellite imagery.
Mansfield added that the high-resolution imagery shows that in the Helmand province, poppy cultivation has fallen from more than 120,000 hectares (296,526 acres) in 2022 to less than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) in 2023-a reduction in this one province alone that surpasses any prior national poppy ban in Afghanistan, even the Taliban prohibition of 2000-2001.
The report praised the Taliban’s efforts against poppy cultivation. However, it warned that cultivation persists in some parts of the northeast, such as Badakhshan, which can increase.
