they re saying that opium reduction, cultivation reduction, in the whole of afghanistan could be as much as 80%. so 80% lower opium cultivation this year compared to the last. in helmand, which is the opium heartland, it is as low as 99%. so 99% lower this year around. this, of course, has global ramifications. nearly all of the heroin sold in europe is made from afghan opium. on the ground there, we were able to see an impact on prices. so one bag of opium already costs more than five times of what it did before the ban. but experts we ve spoken to have told us that it will take a bit of time for that price rise to filter down through the chain of drug trafficking to the street price of heroin. and then the important question, what does this mean for heroin addiction in the uk, in all of europe? experts say that because it is
we ve been to multiple provinces in afghanistan. the ban on poppy cultivation was announced by the taliban supreme leader last year, but this is the first year in which it s been enforced. what we ve seen on the ground is that there s a dramatic drop in opium cultivation. we ve been to the opium heartland of helmand, which used to grow more than 50% of afghanistan s poppy. so the field to the right, that s already been destroyed and we re walking to another one, which they are in the process of destroying right now. farmers have been trying to grow poppy hidden away from view between other crops. this field belongs to ali mohammed. i asked him why he grew opium despite the ban. translation: if you don t have enough food in your house - and your children are going hungry, what else will you do? if we grow wheat instead, we won t earn enough to survive. the taliban go armed and in large numbers. there have been instances of violent clashes between them and angry locals.
to remote poppy growing provinces where ourjournalists have seen that farmers have either not grown opium poppy complying with the taliban s ban, or they ve had their poppy crops destroyed if they defied the order. this is backed by research from uk based experts who have analysed satellite images and say the drop in opium cultivation is likely to be as much as 80%. the bbc s south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports from afghanistan with imogen anderson and sa njay ganguly. we ve been to multiple provinces in afghanistan. the ban on poppy cultivation was announced by the taliban supreme leader last year, but this is the first year in which it s been enforced. what we ve seen on the ground is that there s a dramatic drop in opium cultivation. we ve been to the opium heartland of helmand, which used to grow more than 50% of afghanistan s poppy. we weren t able to see a single poppy crop. that s in stark contrast to what we saw last year where literally wherever you looked there wer
based experts who have analysed satellite images and say the drop in opium cultivation is likely to be as much as 80%. the bbc s south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports from afghanistan, with imogen anderson and sa njay ganguly. we ve been to multiple provinces in afghanistan. the ban on poppy cultivation was announced by the taliban supreme leader last year, but this is the first year in which it s been enforced. what we ve seen on the ground is that there s a dramatic drop in opium cultivation. we ve been to the opium heartland of helmand, which used to grow more than 50% of afghanistan s poppy. we weren t able to see a single poppy crop. that s in stark contrast to what we saw last year where literally wherever you looked there were poppy fields. along with our colleagues, imogen anderson and sanjay ganguli, here s what we found on the ground.
and forced into rehab. and although the taliban government has imposed a complete ban on poppy production the un says opium cultivation increased by 32% in 2022. yalda hakim reports from kabul. hundreds of men rounded up by their new taliban rulers. but this is not what it seems. and this is where they have come from. they used to live under this bridge in western kabul. the taliban say they are cracking down. they are among afghanistan s more than 3.5 million drug addicts. now the bridge has been cleared. this particular part of the bridge used to be packed with addicts. they were often huddled together, high and shooting up. it was a frightening sight for those trying to get past. this is where they are bringing them, to a former us military base in the capital. now, a makeshift rudimentary