The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported on Tuesday that Myanmar “is now the world’s largest opium producer, as the economic and political crisis following the 2021 coup and widening conflict between the military and armed groups continues to drive farmers towards illicit opium poppy production.

According to the UNODC, with this, Myanmar overtakes Afghanistan as world’s top opium producer.

“The southeast Asian country’s opium output has surpassed that of Afghanistan, where the Taliban imposed a ban on its production in April last year – leading to a 95 per cent fall in cultivation,” the report said.

This comes as Afghan farmers stressed alternative agriculture products and called on the relevant organizations to provide them with support.

“When I was cultivating the poppy, the price was high and it was meeting the needs of the family but as it is now banned, I am suffering from a poor economy,” said Wali Mohammad, a farmer in Uruzgan.

“We can’t provide the expenses of farming. We call for help. We should be provided with assistance,” said Abdul Wali, a farmer in Uruzgan.

The Islamic Emirate meanwhile said that Afghanistan has been completely wiped out of narcotics’ production and that the cultivation of drugs is forbidden.

“The deputy Minister for Counter-Narcotics has seriously  taken action against narcotics. We can now say that the cultivation of poppy and hashish has dropped to zero in Afghanistan,” said Zabiullah Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman.

According to the UNODC, the area under opium cultivation this year is estimated to be 47,100 hectares, up from 40,100 last year in Afghanistan, while the corresponding yield is estimated to be 1,080 metric tonnes, up 36 per cent from the 2022 estimate.