Planting rice, sugarcane and rubber is being pushed as a good
alternative to growing opium poppies, and in the Golden Triangle of
Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, more and more opium planters have
accepted this new concept proposed by the Chinese
government.??
Replacement planting is considered a great breakthrough by the
United Nations in the anti-drug fight, which has become an
important aspect of China's cooperation with neighboring Asian
countries in drug control.
China has rooted out opium poppies on more than 620,000
mu (over 41,300 ha) in the Golden Triangle and helped local
farmers to plant safe commercial crops, said Wang Qianrong, an
official with the Drug Enforcement Department of the Ministry of
Public Security.
The replacement scheme for the first time brought the poor
farmers in the Golden Triangle stable income and made them capable
of feeding themselves, said Wang. Some farmers who became addicted
to the drug while harvesting poppy have started a new life.
Even though the Chinese government has dealt harsh blows to drug
taking and trafficking, the number of drug-related crimes is still
on the rise. Latest statistics show the number of drug-taking
people has reached 1.05 million in China and 90 percent of the
heroin brought into China came from the Golden Triangle area
bordering southwest China.
In the 1990s, with support from the central government,
southwest China's Yunnan
Province, a major channel of drugs from the Golden Triangle
area, began to implement the Green Drug Prevention Plan by
replacing opium poppies with safe plants in major opium planting
areas of neighboring countries.
"China teaches local farmers how to plant other crops and
provide seedlings," said Wang. The action is aimed to let local
farmers know that they would benefit more from replacement planting
than from planting poppies.
Yunnan Lubao Industrial Development Co. Ltd. signed a contract
on replacement planting involving 200,000 mu (over 13,300
ha) with Myanmar to help local farmers plant rice, corn, bananas
and lemons and also purchase their products.
The output of bananas every mu could reach 2.5 to 3 tons
and the farmers could earn 400 to 500 yuan (US$48-60) each
mu, said Han Zheng, board director of the company. The
output of lemons each mu could reach 2.5-4 tons and the
average income of farmers is above 2,000 yuan (nearly US$242).
By contrast, opium poppy planting is affected by the market and
the income is unstable and unsafe. "The huge profit of drugs is
monopolized by drug traders, and farmers who live on this could not
even earn enough for food," said Han.
More and more farmers have turned from opium poppy to safe
crops. The area of poppy planting has reduced from more than
100,000 ha in 2001 to 62,000 ha in 2003.
Officials with the United States spoke highly of Yunnan's
practice, saying that it has proved that replacement planting can
be very successful and has become convincing evidence that the
global anti-drug strategy made by the United Nations is
effective.
China has invested heavily in replacement planting. It has cost
500 million yuan (US$60 million) in Yunnan Province alone.
The replacement planting in some regions is developing towards
replacement construction. More investment has gone to improvement
of road and traffic, water facilities, tourism, culture and
education, said Zhang Huimin, an official from Yunnan Provincial
Department of Public Security.
"But opium poppies are still the dominating plant in the Golden
Triangle area and the fight against drugs will still take time to
win," said Zhang. ?
(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2004)