Myanmar opium poppy survey 2010
Yangon (Myanmar), 24 March 2010 - After three months of field activities, UNODC and the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control -
CCDAC, of Myanmar completed the eighth annual opium poppy survey.
The survey combined remote sensing techniques (satellite imagery), interviews with farmers on their socioeconomic conditions, and rapid assessment missions to regions classified as poppy-free. The area surveyed included most of Shan State (the northern, eastern and southern parts), Kachin State and Kayah State, which is where opium poppy cultivation was reported.
The village-based survey of the opium yield and socioeconomic indicators was implemented by CCDAC, although UNODC provided technical, coordination and supervisory support throughout the survey period, which lasted from December 2009 to March 2010. Satellite imagery was collected in collaboration with the Remote Sensing and GIS Section of the Forest Department, Ministry of Forestry.
Based on the collected information, the teams in Vienna and Yangon of the UNODC illicit crop monitoring project -
ICMP will conduct a thorough analysis, in tight cooperation with the Government of Myanmar, to assess the results of the survey.
The main findings of the analysis will be presented in the 2010 Report on Opium Poppy Cultivations in South-East Asia, to be released at the end of 2010 in the region.
UNODC has collected statistical information on illicit crop cultivation in Myanmar since 2001. UNODC also works with other States where illicit drug crops are cultivated to increase the capacity of Governments to monitor the extent and evolution of such crops, in line with the commitments made at the special session of the General Assembly devoted to the world drug problem, held in 1998.
