Pubdate: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 Source: Associated Press (Wire) Copyright: 2003 Associated Press UN AGENCY GIVES RICE TO FORMER POPPY GROWERS IN MYANMAR YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--A U.N. agency has delivered an emergency shipment of rice to former opium poppy farmers in Myanmar who have turned to growing substitute crops, state media reported Thursday. The U.N. World Food Program on Saturday delivered 690 metric tons (760 U.S. tons) of rice to the remote Kokang region of northeastern Shan State, where people are facing a serious food shortage, the Myanma Ahlin newspaper said. Myanmar is the world's second-largest producer of opium after Afghanistan, and recently has become a major exporter of the illicit stimulant methamphetamine. Several government and other independent programs seek to persuade farmers to give up poppy farming by giving them opportunities to grow other crops in a bid to end the opium trade. The government has pledged to achieve the goal by 2014. Since Kokang leaders banned poppy cultivation during the 2002-2003 growing season, tens of thousands of farmers have turned to substitute crops. But poor yields and low profits have led to acute food shortages. The rice was handed over to Kokang leader Phone Kya Shin by the WFP's Myanmar representative, Bhim Udas, at a ceremony on Saturday in the Kokang capital of Lauk Kai, 950 kilometers (590 miles) northeast of the nation's capital Yangon, Myanma Ahlin said. A separate World Food Program statement said the rice is being given to 50,000 people who are "facing extreme hardship" in cooperation with the Japanese government and three humanitarian groups. It didn't elaborate or give the details reported by Myanma Ahlin. It said the shipment is part of a relief project that began in October and is expected to last five months. Under the operation, the farmers will undertake food-for-work projects such as building latrines, irrigation ponds and upgrading roads, it said. The Golden Triangle area where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet has long been one of the world's major sources of opium and its derivative, heroin. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake