HELMAND - The Poppy eradication campaign started in Marjah, Nad-e-Ali and Garamser districts of Helmand province on Sunday, according to a press release issued by the Helmand Governor’s office yesterday.

On the first day of the eradication campaign, around 18 hectares of poppy farms were destroyed in Nad-e-Ali and Marjah districts.

The poppy eradication campaign will be carried out by joint security forces in Helmand province for the upcoming two months. A total of 2,000 hectares of poppy land will be eradicated in all the districts of the province and soon the campaign will be expanded to all other areas of Helmand province, the press release added.

An extensive public awareness campaign, in regard to poppy cultivation, was launched in the recent past which has motivated people to grow other legal crops, instead of poppy.

People now realize that poppy cultivation has losses in this world and the hereafter and that they are ready to desist poppy cultivation.

It is worth mentioning that, currently, poppy is being cultivated on those lands, which are usurped by "powerful individuals" in the province.

Source: Helmand Governor’s Office