The cultivation of coca in Peru has gone up in 2011, but slightly less than in Colombia which remains the world’s largest producer of coca, the United Nations says.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), coca cultivation in the Peru went up 1,300 hectares to 62,500.
Earlier this year, the UNODC released the 2011 report on Colombia which showed a 2,000 hectare increase in coca cultivation, setting the total of hectares used for coca cultivation at 64,00.
During a press conference in the Peruvian capital of Lima, UNODC official Flavio Mirella said that Colombia in 2011 produced 41.6% of the world’s coca. Peru cultivated 40.7% and Bolivia 17.7%.
Colombia has consistently been the world’s main coca producer since 1997 despite a serious drop in production after 2006, according to the UNODC.