The plants, in their flowering stage, were found growing in their gardens in Luc Ngan District, famous for its litchis. One household had 61 plants, the highest among the eight households.

Local police pluck out opium plants from a family garden in Luc Ngan District, Bac Giang Province.

Local police discovered the cultivation on February 24 and seized all the plants. They said the households will be punished for administrative violations.

Earlier, a 35-year-old man was recently found growing nearly 3,500 opium plants in his garden in Viet Yen District.

Opium is on the list of narcotics forbidden in Vietnam.

Those growing opium on a small scale can be fined VND2-5 million ($86.16-215.40). Farmers found cultivating 500 to 3,000 plants could face jail terms of six months to three years, while those operating on a bigger scale can get up to seven years in jail.

CPI in February highest in 8 years

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February was up 1.52% over the previous month and 0.7 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

High-tech farming needs investment and proper policies

Việt Nam’s agriculture sector is aiming to be among the 15 most developed countries in the world, in which the agricultural processing sector ranks among the top 10 countries by 2030.

Source: VnExpress