Daniel Cooney | Lashkargah | March 15

AP - Powerful drug lords are being encouraged by the Afghan government to invest their illegally earned profits in the war-shattered country, according to the governor of the top opium-growing region.

The offer comes amid warnings of another bumper poppy crop that will fuel a booming narcotics trade, which already accounts for 35 per cent of impoverished Afghanistan's income.

"We as a government will provide them the opportunity to use their money for the national benefit," Helmand Gov. Mohammed Daud said during a trip to the region this week by U.S. Ambassador Ronald Neumann.

"They must invest in industries. They must invest in construction companies," he said.

But so far, the government has had no success in persuading the drug traffickers to open new businesses, he said, and most of the money is sent overseas.

The drug trade employs about one in 10 Afghans and brought in $2.8 billion (U.S.) last year, Afghan and U.S. officials say. The vast majority of that goes to traffickers and only a small fraction to farmers.