Washington's aid also depends heavily on fumigation of coca-growing areas, possibly with a risky new biological agent, according to a report in today's Times by Tim Golden.

He pledged to further reduce Peru's coca-growing area - already cut by more than half in three years thanks partly to eradication - by an additional 20 to 30 percent this year.

The main coca-growing areas are crucial targets for reducing the flow of cocaine to the United States, American officials say.

According to recent national polls, the guerrillas have the support of less than 5 percent of the population and virtually no support outside a few universities and coca-growing areas.

According to United States officials, the C-130 was on a mission over the Upper Huallaga Valley, a coca-growing area.

In May, small planes loaded with semirefined cocaine resumed direct daytime flights from Peru's coca-growing areas to cocaine laboratories in Colombia.

Be careful especially when carrying cameras or binoculars when travelling off the beaten track, particularly in coca-growing areas such as the Chapare and the Yungas.

In late November, Todd Smith, an American newspaper reporter who went into the coca-growing area, was kidnapped, tortured and slain.

Previous Plan Rejected The Paz Estenssoro Government also pressed the United States for more aid for development of the coca-growing areas.

However; many remote coca-growing areas lack the infrastructure to get such perishable products to market on time.