[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.56]The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [00:04.00]says the amount of opium produced in Afghanistan [00:07.64]has dropped by almost half compared to last year. [00:13.68]Andrey Avetisyan is the UN agency's regional representative. [00:19.96]He says Afghanistan produced 3,300 tons of opium this year [00:27.12]as compared to 6,400 tons last year. [00:32.88]He spoke to reporters on Wednesday in Kabul, the Afghan capital. [00:38.88]Officials say one reason for the sharp drop [00:42.15]is better cooperation between law enforcement agencies [00:47.24]and Afghan policy makers. [00:50.84]They also say less land is being used to grow opium poppy plants. [00:58.08]And they say growers are harvesting fewer poppies [01:02.84]for every hectare they plant. [01:06.56]Opium is a drug made from the dried opium poppy plant. [01:12.20]The drug is illegal in many countries. [01:16.88]The reported drop in production [01:19.52]comes after years of rising production levels in Afghanistan. [01:25.12]Mr. Avetisyan says opium cultivation in 2015 [01:30.48]decreased by 19 percent throughout the country. [01:35.16]But he says it increased in northern Afghanistan [01:39.36]because of a breakdown in security in some places. [01:44.44]More opium is grown in Helmand than in any other province. [01:50.88]But production there was reported to be down by 16 percent [01:56.32]compared to last year. [01:59.16]There were also reductions in nine other areas. [02:04.08]They are Kandahar, Kapisa, Zabul, [02:08.80]Farah, Nimoroz, Herat, Nangarhar, Laghman and Badkhashan. [02:17.64]Mr. Avetisyan added that the Afghan drug problem is still serious. [02:24.32]He says it can only be solved [02:26.96]if the government works closely with the international community. [02:32.52]He says the UN agency hopes Afghanistan will become more secure. [02:40.04]He says that will help in the fight against the growth, [02:44.12]production, use, transport and export of illegal drugs. [02:52.44]Afghanistan produces more than 80 percent [02:56.40]of the opium sold throughout the world. [03:00.36]Experts believe money from the drug trade [03:03.96]supports Taliban militants in their campaign to oust the Afghan government. [03:10.96]American officials say opium worsens corruption and [03:15.84]insecurity in Afghanistan and harms the legal economy. [03:21.72]The United States has spent 7.6 billion dollars [03:26.40]to help fight the drug trade in Afghanistan since 2001. [03:32.64]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise.