LASHKAR GAH , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- Toiling in what is the opium capital of the world , farmers in southern Afghanistan are swapping out their poppy plants for wheat crops . A farmer harvests wheat in a field on the outskirts of Kabul , Afghanistan , last summer . The farmers are participating in programs sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development , which is offering seeds , fertilizers and improved irrigation to the region in an effort to stop poppy crops and , ultimately , the production of opium and heroin . Observers have noticed a significant decline in the opium trade in Afghanistan , with the number of poppy-free provinces increasing from 13 in 2007 to 18 in 2008 , according to a U.N. report released last year . Opium cultivation in the country , which has 34 provinces , dropped by about 20 percent in a year , the U.N. reported in August . `` It 's a challenge to deliver assistance in a war zone -- you can hear fighter jets flying above us right now , '' said Rory Donohoe , a USAID development officer . `` At the end of the day , what we found is successful is that we work in areas that we can work , '' he told CNN in a recent interview in Helmand province . `` We come to places like this demonstration farm where Afghans can come here to a safe environment , get training , pick up seeds and fertilizer , then go back to districts of their own . '' Watch Afghans speak about the change in their farming practices » . Many of Afghanistan 's northern and eastern provinces have already benefited from USAID alternative farming programs , which have doled out more than $ 22 million to nearly 210,000 Afghans to build or repair 435 miles ( 700 kilometers ) of roads and some 2,050 miles ( 3,300 kilometers ) of irrigation and drainage canals . Giving Afghan farmers improved access to markets and improved irrigation is successfully weaning them away from poppy production , according to officials at USAID . Over the years , opium and heroin -- both derivatives of the poppy -- have served as a major source of revenue for the insurgency , most notably the Taliban movement that once ruled Afghanistan . `` If you can just help the people of Afghanistan in this way , the fighting will go away , '' said Abdul Qadir , a farmer in Lashkar Gah . `` The Taliban and other enemies of the country will also disappear . ''
USAID offering seeds , other help to encourage Afghan farmers to grow wheat . Agency trying to wean Afghan farmers from poppy production . Poppy plants used to produce opium and heroin . Opium , heroin has been a major source of revenue for the Taliban .