Nay Pyi Taw, Feb 14 (.) The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF), a major pro-democracy armed organisation in Myanmar, has issued a stark warning to residents against opium cultivation in all areas in Myanmar’s Karenni state under its control, and have threatened to mow down entire poppy fields should it continue.
KNDF Brigade 4 Commander Moe Nyo said the group would launch a sweeping crackdown in Demoso, vowing to “wipe out” poppy fields if cultivation continues.
“People are growing opium openly – along main roads, beside houses, at the edge of villages,” he said. “This is the final warning. If they do it again next year, not a single field will be spared.”
The warning poses a complex problem, given that poppy farming has long been a prominent source of livelihood in Pekon Township, bordering southern Shan State, one of the country’s main opium-producing regions; 2021’s military coup has caused much changes in this trend, as poppy cultivation has spread beyond the country’s traditional cultivation zones into as far as Loikaw and Demoso townships, which today are areas now largely controlled by various rebel groups.
Additionally, poppy cultivation’s dichotomous nature further complicates this problem, as on one hand it offers quick income in a war-ravaged economy, yet simultaneously fuels many wide ranging social and security problems, making reaching a solution to the issue, far easier said than done, given the lack of options.
KNDF leader Moe Nyo blamed the massive poverty caused by the prolonged fighting between rebels and junta, along with the repeated failures of cash crops, as the reason behind the resorting of masses to opium farming.
Nonetheless, he also argued that in the long-run, opium cultivation has only worsened this problem, as it has, as per him, deepened social distress rather than alleviate it, causing widespread destruction among the social strata.
“Far from improving people’s livelihoods, opium cultivation has undermined the social fabric, fuelling drug trafficking, addiction, theft, mugging and robberies, and even suicide,” he said.
On Monday, KNDF units destroyed nearly an acre of poppy planted beside the union Highway in western Demoso.
The group blamed monsoon crop failures last year, stating that harvest failure due to lack of rain drove farmers to replant poppy during the cool and hot seasons in lowland areas with easier irrigation, often near homes and along visible transport routes.
Karenni State’s Interim Executive Council (IEC), the parallel administration aligned with resistance forces, acknowledged that currently it has yet to adopt any kind of a coordinated state-wide eradication or crop-substitution strategy.
The IEC Secretary Banyar Khun Aung said that restrictions were currently enforced at township level rather than through a unified policy.
“For now, efforts are focused more on tackling drug use than cultivation,” he said, adding that while long-time growers are tolerated to some degree due to local realities, new large-scale and conspicuous planting is being curtailed. “No one has been given legal permission to grow poppy,” he stressed.
Local accounts suggest the economic calculus is straightforward. A volunteer assisting displaced people in Demoso said poppy farming surged after the coup because it is easy to grow and brings rapid returns.
“But it hasn’t improved their lives,” he said. “In the past, they could eat what they grew. Now they have to buy food from outside at high prices.”
According to Irrawaddy, poppy takes roughly three months to harvest, with production costs standing at around 5 million kyats (approximately $1,230) per acre. With a good yield of about 10 viss -more than 16kg -per acre, farmers can secure significant profit margins when prices are favourable.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, poppy cultivation in Karenni rose from nearly 1,300 acres in 2024 to about 1,550 acres by the end of last year, a 21% increase, reflecting how war-ravaged economies across Myanmar are struggling to reshape their traditional agricultural patterns, as illegal crops are filling the vacuum left by disrupted markets and collapsing state support.
The body noted that the KNDF’s challenge to stopping poppy farming is a heavily complex one, as it is limited not only to enforcement, but to offering viable alternatives in a state where war has ravaged practically all industries, and left few options, as they must also search for options which will allow for people to cultivate another crop providing the same quick cash, while they simultaneously take on the arduous task of burning all poppy fields.
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