Afghanistan’s government Sunday warned farmers that it would spray chemicals to destroy poppy fields if the illegal crops are not eradicated in other ways. “Yes, we’ve accepted in principle to use ground spray when it’s needed,” Habibullah Qaderi, the minister for counter narcotics, told a news conference in Kabul. The minister did not say when the spraying will begin. However, he made it clear that the government had rejected an aerial spray of poppy crops. “We however oppose aerial spray,” he said. Afghanistan this year produced 6,100 tons of opium - the raw ingredient for making heroin - which is enough for more than 90 percent of the world’s illegal drugs. Qaderi, along with interior minister Zarar Ahmad Muqbel, chaired a conference attended by the governors of 11 provinces where poppy cultivation is high. The conference was convened to discuss plans for poppy eradication in 2007.