Poppy crop on 100 acres of land eradicated in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The illicit poppy crop has been eradicated on about 100 acres of land and 100 suspects detained in northern Balkh province.

Police chief Abdul Raziq Rashid told Pajhwok Afghan News the poppy eradication campaign had kicked off in the province two months ago.

The campaign is being carried out in Chamtal, Balkh, Chahar Bulak, Dawlatabad and Sholgara districts, where the banned crop has been destroyed on 100 acres of land.

He said the drive was underway and the cultivation of poppy would be brought to zero soon.

Wali Jan, a farmer in Balkh district, told Pajhwok poppy cultivation was prohibited, but some growers continued to cultivate it out of need.

He urged the government to provide refined seeds and chemical fertilisers to farmers to curb poppy cultivation.

Nazar Mohammad, another grower, said he had turned to the cultivation of other crops after the ban was imposed on planting poppies.

He said poppiex and opium had greater benefits, but if the government helped farmers and most of them would stop cultivating the illicit plant.

Under the IEA decree, the cultivation of drugs and trafficking and use of narcotics has been banned across the country.

sa/mud