"Myanmar’s illegal poppy growing has declined by 11 per cent and poppy production by over two per cent, said Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major General Aung Thu, at a ceremony to release the Myanmar poppy production survey report, held at Horizon Lake View Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw on February. Last year, there were 33,100 hectares of poppy plantations in Myanmar. In 2006, the illegal poppy growing and production reached the lowest. But the period between 2007 and 2013 saw an increase in, the poppy production and the period between 2014 and 2019, a decline. “There were 55,000 hectors of poppy plantations in 2015, 41,000 hectares in 2017, 37,300 hectares in 2018 and 33,100 hectares in 2019. Poppy growth declined by 11 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister added. “Myanmar’s poppy production reached 647 metric tons in 2015, 550 metric tons in 2017, 520 metric tons in 2018 and 508 metric tons in 2019. The poppy production declined by over two per cent in 2019 compared with 2018,” the deputy minister said. According to the UNODC’s report 2019, Myanmar’s ranking dropped to the third position in the World Drug Report 2019 from the second largest opium producer in the world, he said..."