Afghan opium cultivation hits record high in 2013: UN - Yahoo News UK: CURBING THE POPPY INDUSTRY WAS ONE OF THE OSTENSIBLE REASONS FOR THE UK TO BE IN AFGHANISTAN. FAIL, FAIL, FAIL. Link 2
"The report said that in 2013 the area under opium poppy cultivation rose to 209,000 hectares from the previous year?s total of 154,000 -- higher than the previous peak of 193,000 hectares in 2007.
Opium production reached 5,500 tons, up by almost half from 2012 but lower than the 2007 high of 7,400 tonnes as bad weather in southern Afghanistan affected crops.
Worth around $950 million, or 4 per cent of national GDP in 2013, the farm-gate value of opium production increased by almost a third.
Together with profits made by drug traffickers, the total value of the opium economy within Afghanistan was significantly higher, the report said, suggesting the illicit economy will grow further while a slowdown of the legal economy is predicted in 2014."
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