Big growth in  Afghan poppy crop
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An increase in Afghanistan's opium poppy crop and the illicit drugs trade is endangering rebuilding efforts the US says.
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Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer, is set for another bumper crop of opium poppies in 2008, providing a windfall for the Taliban, which taxes farmers to finance its fight against government and foreign forces, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said Wednesday. Production rose 34...
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The world needs to invest more than $2 billion in irrigation, roads and other rural development to wean Afghanistan off booming opium cultivation, a development bank report said Tuesday.
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Afghan opium poppy cultivation exploded to a record high this year, with the multibillion-dollar trade fueled by Taliban militants and corrupt officials in President Hamid Karzai's government, a U.N. report said Monday.
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Afghanistan's vast and lucrative opium production may drop slightly this year from a record spike, but world-high cannabis output is likely to rise, a United Nations survey released Wednesday said.
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A UN report -- noting while opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan was up 64 percent the past year, opium production had only increased 17 -- has still led one UN official
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Afghanistan says it needs more money to persuade farmers to stop growing opium poppies.
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Afghanistan&#39;s poppy cultivation increased by almost two-thirds this year and accounts for 87% of world supply of raw opium, a UN report said yesterday, warning of the country&#39;s descent into a drugs-based economy.
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New York, Nov 19 : In a highly disturbing development, the area under opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 64 percent this year, giving the country the dubious distinction of establishing a new record in its cultivation and becoming the largest
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KABUL, Afghanistan - US-led coalition forces fought with Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan's poppy-growing belt yesterday, engaging in a daylong battle that left more than 60 Taliban fighters and one coalition soldier dead, military officials said.
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The area planted with genetically modified crops in Europe has grown by 77% since last year, figures show.
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The United States says it expected Afghanistan&#39;s illicit poppy crop to jump by an alarming 239 per cent over the past year. &quot;Current cultivation levels equate to a potential production of 4,950 tonnes of opium
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Afghanistan's 2007 opium poppy cultivation could expand again after a record crop last year, the U.N. drug agency said Monday, underlining the weakness of an international-backed drive against the country's booming narcotics trade.
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Responding to a U.N. report warning it  risks becoming a narco-state after opium cultivation jumped to  record levels, Afghanistan said Friday the war on drugs was the  top priority but opposed aerial spraying of opium fields.
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Brussels - Opium growing in Afghanistan leapt by two-thirds this year, according to a new UN report on Thursday that warns the former Taliban stronghold could relapse into a &quot;narco-state&quot; and terrorism haven.
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KABUL - Afghanistan&#39;s opium production is approaching record levels. A new United Nations report says drug production has shot up more than 60 per cent in the past year.
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Opium production in Afghanistan, which provides more than 90 percent of the world's heroin, broke all records in 2006, reaching a historic high despite ongoing U.S.-sponsored eradication efforts, the Bush administration reported yesterday.