Bogota, Jul 2 (EFE).– The area planted in coca in Colombia grew last year by 44 percent, from 48,000 to 69,000 hectares (120,000 to 173,000 acres), and potential cocaine production grew by 52 percent, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, revealed Thursday.

Those are the main conclusions contained in the latest Colombia Coca Survey, which verifies that while the cultivation area of coca decreased in the Colombian regions of Amazon, Orinoco and Sierra Nevada, it rose in Pacifico, Central, Putumayo-Caqueta and Meta-Guaviare.

In these regions, and also in Cauca, is concentrated 73 percent of the coca cultivation in Colombia.

UNODC director for Colombia, Bo Mathiasen, said that the results show that “Illicit crops have not brought positive development to communities anywhere in the world. For this reason UNODC encourages the government of Colombia to maintain and increase the alternative development program in the country.”

The increase of 68 percent in coca cropland in the provinces of Putumayo and Caqueta is particularly noteworthy, while in Pacifico is where the most area is devoted to coca and where it increased by 40 percent.

In addition, in 2014 there was significant growth in coca growing within the La Macarena and Nukak national parks, in the east-central provinces of Meta and Guaiviare.

During the presentation of the report in Bogota, Mathiasen urged “voluntary manual eradication” of the coca crops by peasants.

Among the possible reasons for the increase in coca cultivation, Mathiasen pointed to the profitability of coca leaf, the price of which rose 42 percent in Guaviare province, and “expectations” of the peasants who cultivate it.

The report also said that potential production of cocaine last year rose from 290 metric tons to 442 metric tons, a 52 percent increase.

Colombian Justice Minister Yesid Reyes, who attended the presentation, said that the figures show that “repression of the illegal drug economy is an insufficient tool that provides … unsustainable results over time.” EFE