Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/90623-gc0001.htm#09062370000073


Tuesday: debate on steps the Government are taking to assist farmers in Afghanistan to move from opium poppy cultivation to a sustainable alternative livelihood. Clearly, wheat is becoming relatively more profitable than poppies, and there is a window of opportunity. With 20,000 more NATO troops, it should become a lot harder for the terrorists to coerce farmers into growing the poppies and taxing them to finance their operations. But this year there has also been a new upsurge in the use of IEDs against our forces, and last Friday Welsh Guards Major Sean Burchill was killed by one of these fiendish devices. The Americans are spending $4 billion on coimyer-IED technology, and we need to be assured they're sharing the results with us.