Myanmar has declared a war on opium.<br/> <br />In a remote valley in Shan State, police armed with weed-whackers move through fields of poppies.<br/> <br />They leave behind them a carpet of stems.<br/> <br />These fields are the livelihood for many of the residents in the villages.<br/> <br />Local farmers are distraught at the sight of their destroyed fields.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Burmese) 48-YEAR-OLD WIDOW WITH SIX DAUGHTERS, MOE MOHM, SAYING:<br/> <br />"I thought nothing. I just wanted to cry. I can't do anything about this (poppy field eradication). There's no food to eat. The money I borrowed I have already spent on fertilizers. I have no more money to pay back, no more money for food."<br/> <br />Myanmar has appealed to foreign donors for half a billion dollars to finance a program to wean the thousands of households off poppy-growing.<br/> <br />But it's not easy.<br/> <br />United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said new crops can't be planted until the rains come in June or July.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME (UNODC) IN MYANMAR COUNTRY MANAGER, JASON ELIGH SAYING:<br/> <br />"We've got a very narrow window. We've got a period now of about six months until they can plant again. If aid is not arriving, if they don't get the assistance they need in that period, then there is a very real chance that they'll go back to poppy."<br/> <br />The UN estimates about 256,000 households are involved in opium poppy cultivation.<br/> <br />It also said Myanmar produced an estimated 610 tonnes last year.<br/> <br />Making it the world's second biggest opium supplier after Afghanistan.<br/> <br />Sophia Soo, Reuters.
