Afghan Poppys Growth........

Afghans will plant whatever earns most and the instability of war could see them favour the "one sure way of safe-guarding against an insecure future.
"This year we had less poppy cultivation, which I think was because of our public awareness campaign which we launched before cultivation started.

The farmers and other experts cited high rainfall in some areas, drought in others, free seeds for alternatives such as wheat and good prices for food crops, and a mysterious disease withering poppies in some areas.  Opium output was down by 10 percent in 2009 to 6,900 tonnes, but yield rose 15 percent because farmers extracted more opium per bulb.