KABUL, Dec 29, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Farmers in northern Afghanistan have yet to 
make up for lost income since the Taliban government banned poppy production 
for opium three years ago, the United Nations said on Monday.

The ban has slashed poppy production overall to just 10,200 hectares (25,200 
acres) this year, "one of the lowest levels ever recorded" in Afghanistan, 
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.

However, it also resulted in a shift from traditional growing areas in the 
south to northern provinces further from the control of the Taliban 
authorities.

In Badakhshan on the border with Tajikistan, surveyed in the agency's most 
recent report, poppy production has jumped since the Taliban returned to 
power in 2021.

In that province and in nearby Kunduz and Balkh, "on average, 85 percent of 
families... reported either no replacement or only partial replacement of 
their poppy income" after abandoning production, the report found.

Many farmers are instead growing wheat and other cereals, but in 2023 "the 
average per-hectare income from wheat was just $770, whereas opium poppy 
yielded around $10,000 per hectare".

"This income loss goes far beyond households, weakening rural purchasing 
power, reducing local economic activity, and increasing communities' overall 
vulnerability to poverty and food insecurity," said Oliver Stolpe, the 
UNODC's regional representative.

The agency urged more efforts to encourage growing of high-value crops such 
as saffron, nuts, herbs and fruits such as apricots and grapes, which are 
better suited to the arid and high-altitude landscapes.

Poppy revenues had long been a major source of Afghanistan's economic output 
before the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Output of opium, the core ingredient in heroin, was estimated at 296 tons 
this year, the agency had reported last month, a 32 percent drop from the 
year before.

Farmers' income from opium sales fell by nearly half, to $134 million this 
year from $260 million in 2024.

The government's deputy ministry on counter-narcotics welcomed what it called 
an "important reflection of the realities and genuine challenges of farmers".

In a response included in the UN findings, it said the authorities would 
pursue policies aimed at "sustainable rural development and reducing 
dependency on narcotics crop cultivation".