Kabul , Afghanistan ( CNN ) -- Opium production has dropped significantly in Afghanistan , in large part because of a plant infection in the country 's war-torn south , a U.N. report said on Thursday . `` This is good news but there is no room for false optimism ; the market may again become lucrative for poppy-crop growers so we have to monitor the situation closely , '' said Yury Fedotov , executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime . The development was detailed in the office 's 2010 Afghan Opium Survey . Insurgents in Afghanistan have financed their operations through the opium trade . The report said the total 2010 production was estimated at 3,600 metric tons , down 48 percent from 2009 . `` The decrease was largely due to a plant infection hitting the major poppy-crop growing provinces of Helmand and Kandahar particularly hard , '' the report said . `` Plant diseases are a normal occurrence all over the world . In Afghanistan , which produces 92 per cent of the world 's opium , they can affect the poppy crop . The current strain attacks the roots of the plant , climbing up the stem and causing the opium capsule to wither away . These signs are similar to those observed in previous such outbreaks in the region , '' the report said . Prices of opium are rising after a decline from 2005 , the report said . `` In the short run , the decline in opium production has pushed prices up . Despite the drop in overall production , the farm-gate income of opium farmers rose markedly . Now that opium is commanding high prices again , the gross income for farmers per hectare has increased by 36 per cent to $ 4,900 . The report said opium cultivation remained stable with 98 percent of cultivation taking place in nine provinces in the south and west of the country .
A plant infection blamed for large drop in production , according to U.N. and Afghanistan provinces were hit `` particularly hard . '' 2009 production down 48 percent on 2009 figures . Afghanistan produces 48 percent of world opium , according to the U.N. Helmand report .