NAY PYI TAW, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's opium poppy cultivation saw a decline in 2019, dropping by 11 percent from a year earlier, according to the Myanmar Opium Survey 2019 on Tuesday.
Jointly conducted by Myanmar's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Myanmar Opium Survey 2019 on cultivation, production and implications was launched in capital Nay Pyi Taw.
The area of opium poppy cultivation was steadily down to 33,100 hectares in 2019, from 37,300 hectares in 2018 and 41,000 hectares in 2017, according to Deputy Home Minister Maj-Gen Aung Thu.
The production was down to 508 tons in 2019, from 520 tons in 2018 and 550 tons in 2017 respectively.
The deputy minister also informed the public that Myanmar's ranking dropped to the third position in World Drug Report 2019 from the second largest opium producer.
Far-flung mountainous areas in Shan, Kachin, Kayah and Chin states are the major opium poppy cultivating and producing states in Myanmar.
It was learnt that the authorities have implemented infrastructures development works, including building roads, bridges and religious buildings as well as in education, health, agriculture, livestock, water and power sectors and building to boost the development in the major opium producing areas.
