Argentine Farmers Won't Kick Tobacco Habit

Source from:  Wed Oct 25, By Helen Popper SAN PEDRO, Argentina (Reuters) 10/27/2006

Following in his father's footsteps, Esteban Da Rosa has been growing tobacco on a smallholding in northern Argentina all his life. And like many other farmers, he's in no hurry to give it up. The South American country has joined the list of nations cracking down on smoking and its tobacco farmers have long been encouraged to replace at least some of their tobacco crops with alternatives ranging from pigs to pine trees. But in the verdant province of Misiones, tobacco is still the most profitable crop for small farmers, and growing tobacco lets them join a union that gives them health insurance and the power to negotiate better prices with tobacco companies. "Tobacco isn't as bad as people think because it gives us a livelihood," said Da Rosa, sitting on the veranda of his cottage surrounded by rain-splashed orange trees, bright green tea bushes and young tobacco plants. "There are a lot of heavy anti-smoking campaigns but cigarette sales are still the same and in the grand scheme of things, they won't stop people smoking," he said. The nearby town of San Pedro lies some 800 miles north of Buenos Aires at the heart of the tobacco-producing region of Misiones, named after the missions established by Jesuits in the area in the 17th century. Tobacco plants dot the plots of red soil that have been carved out of the semi-tropical forest that once covered the area. Though some better-off farmers have tractors, many use plows drawn by bulls to furrow their small, hilly fields. "Without tobacco, this area would be utterly poor," said Emilio Lates, a radio journalist who does public relations for the Misiones Tobacco Planters' Association (APTM). It groups nearly 20,000 farming families in Misiones, where production rose more than 9 percent in the 2004/05 harvest. "I've got a problem with tobacco, but not with the farmers," said Lates, an enthusiastic smoker. "As a poor country, we don't have the luxury of giving up growing tobacco." SMOKING BANS More and more countries are imposing smoking restrictions and several Argentine provinces have banned smoking in bars and cafes. About a third of adults smoke in Argentina, which is one of the world's top 10 tobacco suppliers. Neighboring Uruguay imposed Latin America's toughest ban this year, joining several U.S. states, European and Asian nations imposing laws aimed at cutting tobacco-related illnesses. Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat has been encouraging alternatives to tobacco in growing areas for years, as well as promoting greener practices in an industry criticized for deforestation and using large quantities of agrochemicals. Part of the price of a packet of cigarettes in Argentina funds diversification projects in tobacco-producing areas, though officials admit changing habits takes time. "The farmer sees the money he's earning today but you have to think about what might happen tomorrow," said Eugenio Corradini, who leads the Secretariat's diversification scheme. "The short- and medium-term looks good for tobacco areas, but the longer-term outlook could be worrying. We have to see how consumers react," he added. Diversifying is also backed by the APTM, which urges its members to rear pigs and plant pine for the paper industry alongside traditional crops of tobacco and yerba mate -- a green plant used to make an infusion drunk widely in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay that the Jesuits cultivated in their missions. But tobacco is still the crop of choice for many Misiones' small-holders. Lates said tobacco is about 40 percent more profitable than yerba mate and can be harvested within a year. Government figures show Argentine tobacco exports brought in almost $220 million last year, and the more than 98,000 tonnes exported to destinations including the United States, Belgium and Germany was the most in 10 years. China -- the world's biggest consumer of cigarettes with about 350 million smokers -- opened its market to Argentine tobacco last month and sales to new buyers like Canada are up. Misiones is known for its Burley tobacco, the world's second-most popular tobacco after Virginia, which is hung to dry in open-sided wooden barns at harvest time. Splitting open a Marlboro cigarette, Lates picks out an amber-colored strand he identifies as Misiones Burley. Argentina's cigarette-making industry is dominated by Nobleza-Piccardo, the Argentine unit of British American Tobacco Plc, and Massalin Particulares SA, an affiliate of Altria Group Inc., which makes Marlboro. Despite tough competition from suppliers in Africa -- where production costs can be just a third of Argentina's -- and the global drive to cut smoking, many Misiones farmers think they'll be in business for a while yet. "Our Burley is very good, the best there is in the world," said the San Pedro farmer Da Rosa. "I know tobacco harms people's health, but here it helps kill hunger." Enditem