United Nations officials say opium production in Afghanistan has increased by 43% in the past year. The area used to farm the poppy plant - which is the source of opium - has increased by 10 percent and now covers more than 200,000 hectares.

Better farming conditions resulted in a higher yield per hectare, increasing overall production. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of the substance, which is the main ingredient in the drug heroin. From 2007 to 2010, production fell by more than 30 percent. But from 2010 up to this year, it leapt by 65 percent overall.