POT GROWN IN HIGHLAND CELLARS

Marijuana is being grown secretly in Vietnam in cellars, an official said
at a conference in the Central Highlands Lam Dong Province Friday.

The plants are kept in underground rooms with the light on day and night,
said Nguyen Van Du, deputy head of the Department of Cooperative Economy
and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development.

Du said the cultivation of hemp plants has become complicated recently,
adding that it's hard to recognize marijuana when it is planted together
with other vegetables in the mountainous areas.

According to the ministry, which organized the conference, 45.4 hectares
of poppy and 1.2 hectares of marijuana have been discovered in 2008-2009.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Ho Xuan Hung said it is important that
mountainous communities are helped to cultivate other kinds of plants to
stop the cultivation of marijuana.

For this purpose, the ministry plans to allocate VND36.72 billion (US$2.15
million) in 2010 to 18 provinces, he said. The plan will be submitted to
the government and concerned ministries for further discussion, he added.