UN warns of opium production in Afghanistan

A dramatic rise in opium prices could cause more Afghan farmers to grow the illegal crop this year, thwarting efforts to stem the practice, the UN said today.

Despite a 48% drop in opium production in 2010, due mostly to a plant disease, the average price of dry opium at harvest time was US$169 (€125) per kilogram, up 164% from 2009, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in its new Afghanistan Opium Survey. A summary of the findings was released in September.