NAY PYI TAW, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has seen a significant decrease in poppy cultivation in 2017 to 41,000 hectares which was 25 percent down from the 55,500 hectares recorded in 2015, according to the Myanmar Opium Survey 2017 launched in Nay Phi Taw on Wednesday.
Myanmar's eastern Shan State topped the areas with a drop of 37 percent, followed by southern Shan state with a drop of 29 percent of poppy cultivation reduction, but there were less than 3 percent or 7 percent in conflicted areas such as Kachin state.
Speaking at the event, Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that UNODC will continue to assist the country from a dependence on opium to alternative and sustainable economic opportunities.
