"Crop substitution" a success in the south

"Crop substitution" a success in the south

Drugs

According to traders coming to the border, the people in southern Shan State have "successfully" substituted poppy cultivation in place of their traditional cheroot-leaf plantations, reported Karenni Information Network Group on Friday (28 November). 

Poppy fields on mountain ranges stretching north to south both in the east and west of Loilem, 47 miles east of Taunggyi, the Shan State capital, could be seen both by the travelers and townspeople, they said. Gardens of cheroot-leaves, used for rolling tobacco for smoking, have now been replaced by poppy plants. 

The running cost is carried by ethnic Chinese financiers, who will later buy the harvest at 180,000 - 200,000 kyat per viss (1.6 kg). 

Tax, 10,000 - 15,000 kyat per viss, is quietly given to the local police, who either arrest and prosecute or destroy the fields of those who fail to pay. 

The daily wage for field workers and attendants is 1,000 kyat per day. "The locals have also adopted a name for the poppy fields," they said, "and that is 'flower garden'. So when someone is off to a poppy field, one only mentions about leaving for the flower garden instead." 

The situation is also the same in the eastern part of Taunggyi district, KING reports. 

Hopong and Hsihseng townships, lying east of Taunggyi, have long been reputed as major producers of opium. 

According to Democratic Voice of Burma, the current exchange rates are:
$ 1 = 850 kyat
B 1 = 23.3 kyat