Editing Cocaine (section)

===== Cultivation =====
[[File:Women gathering leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca) Wellcome V0043210.jpg|thumb|Women gathering leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca) in Bolivia. Wood engraving, c. 1867]]

Attempts to eradicate coca fields through the use of [[defoliants]] have devastated part of the farming economy in some coca-growing regions of Colombia, and strains appear to have been developed that are more resistant or immune to their use. Whether these strains are natural mutations or the product of human tampering is unclear. These strains have also shown to be more potent than those previously grown, increasing profits for the drug cartels responsible for the exporting of cocaine. Although production fell temporarily, coca crops rebounded in numerous smaller fields in Colombia, rather than the larger plantations.<ref name="j011">{{cite journal | vauthors =  Messina JP, Delamater PL | title=Defoliation and the war on drugs in Putumayo, Colombia | journal=International Journal of Remote Sensing | volume=27 | issue=1 | date=10 January 2006 | issn=0143-1161 | doi=10.1080/01431160500293708 | pages=121–128| bibcode=2006IJRS...27..121M }}</ref><ref name="l275">{{cite journal | vauthors = Ferreira JF, Smeda RJ, Duke SO | title=Control of coca plants ( Erythroxylum coca and E. novogranatense ) with glyphosate | journal=Weed Science | volume=45 | issue=4 | date=1997 | issn=0043-1745 | doi=10.1017/S0043174500088809 | pages=551–556| bibcode=1997WeedS..45..551F }}</ref>

The cultivation of coca has become an attractive economic decision for many growers due to the combination of several factors, including the lack of other employment alternatives, the lower profitability of alternative crops in official crop substitution programs, the eradication-related damages to non-drug farms, the spread of new strains of the coca plant due to persistent worldwide demand.<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Marcela I |date=August 2010 |title=Who crops coca and why? The case of Colombian farmers |url=https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/90527/1/CRC-PEG_DP_40.pdf |journal=[[Econstor]] |access-date=28 April 2024 |archive-date=28 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240428033001/https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/90527/1/CRC-PEG_DP_40.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Colombia: 'I'm not proud cultivating coca, but we have no choice' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2018/9/2/colombia-im-not-proud-cultivating-coca-but-we-have-no-choice |access-date=28 April 2024 |website=Al Jazeera |archive-date=8 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708192313/https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2018/9/2/colombia-im-not-proud-cultivating-coca-but-we-have-no-choice |url-status=live }}</ref>