The cultivation of coca bushes is down some 17.5 percent in Peru, according to the 2013 national coca crop monitoring survey presented today in Lima by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Peruvian government.
"This is the most remarkable reduction rate achieved in the last 14 years, mainly because of significant public investment and the presence of Government entities in the main areas of coca crop cultivation,” said UNODC representative in Peru Flavio Mirella.
This decline was also possible due to the government’s programs aimed at drug trafficking, eradication actions, and the consolidation and enhancement of alternative development efforts in many parts of the country.
“The area under cultivation at the end of 2013 stood at around 49,800 ha, down from the previous year's total of 60,400 ha.,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that Peruvian authorities eradicated over 23,900 ha of coca crop, up 68 percent from 2012.
Most of those efforts took place in the Palcazú-Pichis-Pachitea area and the Monzón valley, which have the highest rates of expansion in the area used for cultivation and serve as key points for the production of illicit coca derivatives produced both locally and elsewhere.
Other areas where eradication took place include Alto Huallaga, according to the UNODC survey.
The total output of sun-dried coca leaves reached around 121,424 metric tons, with decreases occurring in Monzón and Palcazú-Pichis-Pachitea due to eradication and, to a lesser extent, the voluntary abandonment of cultivation in La Convención and Lares.
(END) LIT/MAO/RMB
Published: 6/11/2014