Myanmar, Southeast Asia’s largest opium-poppy growing country, has destroyed a total of 12,774 hectares of poppy plantations, 20 percent of the total of 507,800 hectares, across the country.

In October 2013, the authorities spoiled 5,019 hectares of poppy plantations in Shan and Kayah states. The Shan State remains the center of Myanmar’s opium producing area, accounting for 90 percent of opium poppy cultivation.

To curb such illicit activities, the government has extended its 15-year drug elimination plan (1999-2014) to 2019 and has also implemented alternative development projects in the areas of poppy cul t iva t ion in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Drug and Crime (UNODC) and the governments of Thailand and China.