Myanmar government in cooperation with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will extend substitute project for opium cultivation in some townships of Shan state, northeast region of Myanmar, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun said on Tuesday.

At the meeting the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, donor countries and UNODC, held in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun said the project will be done in Mongnai, Mongpan, Pinlaung, Pekhon, Langkho and Mongton townships of Shan State as part of efforts for ensuring food security for opium growers whose opium cultivation are destroyed every year.

The government and UNODC has implemented three projects aiming at assisting in their food security and livelihood, alleviating the poverty and land reclamation.

At present, there is a total of 57,800 hectares of poppy plantation area, producing 870 tons of poppy.

Myanmar will implement the fourth five-year drug elimination plan in 51 townships across the country.

Myanmar's 15-year drug eradication master plan was launched in 1999-2000 and it was extended for another five years till 2018-19.

In 2013, the defense services and Myanmar police forces destroyed 12,700 hectares of poppy plantation in collaboration with relevant partner organizations. Endi

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