Poppy Planting Season Poses Test for U.S. Opium Policy

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan Sept.24, 2009— -- In a few days, Suraj Uldin will plant his family's small farm with either poppy or wheat. The choice is stressing him out.

The Taliban is offering him a good deal to plant poppies. The U.S. is trying to get farmers to plant anything but poppies.

For the past two years, wheat prices have been unusually high, the result of a worldwide increase in basic food commodities as well as a drought in Afghanistan. If wheat prices remain inflated, Uldin prefers to grow it. For one thing, he says, it's far easier than raising poppy.

"Everything in poppy is hard," he said through an interpreter.

Uldin will have to make up his mind soon because planting season for the poppy crop will begin shortly.

The 54-year-old's decision is primarily based on how best to support his family of 10, but his choice is also an indication as to whether the United States' $1 billion commitment to agriculture in Afghanistan is making a difference in the lives of Afghans and in curbing the narcotics trade.

With the Obama administration's recent decision to stop the controversial poppy eradication program, the U.S. has put more emphasis on creating alternatives to growing poppy, the plant used in opium production and has been a key element in financing the Taliban.

Around the country, farmers are being encouraged by the U.S. to recreate the flourishing pre-Soviet invasion agricultural hub of vineyards and orchards for which the country was known.

For nearly 30 years, Uldin has worked his plot of land here in the heart of the world's poppy-growing region. Nearly half of Afghanistan's poppy comes from the fertile Helmand province and nearly all of the world's opium, 93 percent in 2008, comes from this war torn country.

Despite his dislike for the physical struggles of growing poppy and the fact that it is considered Haram or "forbidden" in this Islamic nation, Uldin usually plants it. Poppy offers a consistently high price which helps his family, plus he feels pressure from the Taliban.

"Local traders or smugglers, they were offering us money. They say, 'Keep this money and you will eat for your family okay?'" he explained. "I will give you this much money and I will buy your harvest at this high price."