Tobacco Cultivation Increasing Again in Greater Rangpur

Source from:  Nation.ittefaq.com 02/16/2009

The farmers are being attracted again towards tobacco farming following more profits and lucrative incentives being given by the multinational and local tobacco companies for increasing its production. A number of farmers told BSS that they have cultivated tobacco in three times more lands this season than that of the last year in greater Rangpur and the British-American Tobacco (BAT) and other companies provided them with necessary inputs. Farmers Echahaq Ali and Ayub Ali of Kathihara village under Sadar Upazila of Rangpur while talking to BSS said that they have cultivated tobacco in two acres land each, which is much higher than they cultivated last year. Besides, farmers Abdul Khaleque and Yasin Ali of village Rofadanipara, Shamsul Haque of village Chankuri, Abul Hossain of village Jahanpur Munshirhat of Rangpur have also cultivated tobacco in more than two acres land this season. They said that the farmers are losing interests in farming wheat, potato or maize and becoming more interested in tobacco farming as the BAT has been providing fertilisers and insecticides as loans and cost-free seeds. After harvesting, the farmers are selling the produce to the local BAT godowns when the BAT authorities are paying tobacco price after deducting the prices of fertilisers and pesticides provided to the Tobacco farmers. The farmers also said that the BAT bought their tobacco at Taka 73 per kg though the middlemen tobacco traders sold their stockpiled tobacco at Taka 100 per kg last season. This time, the BAT authorities may increase the per kg tobacco price by Taka five, the farmers said and asked the BAT authorities to deduct the loans for fertilisers as per the present market rates, which is half than the previous rates, as fixed by the government. The other companies like Dhaka Tobacco Company, Nasir Tobacco Company, Aziz Tobacco Company etc are also providing various facilities for increasing tobacco production, they said. The farmers also told BSS that they knew no initiative so far from any organisation including the Department of Agriculture Extension to discourage farming of tobacco as it is injurious to human health. The tobacco growers also told BSS that they have cultivated mostly high quality Virginia variety 'Barley', CC Tobacco and Jyati Tobacco and also cultivated some local variety 'Motihar' Tobacco in their lands. The farmers are expecting a bumper production of the cash crop, harvesting of which will begin very soon from the last week of February and it will be completed by the middle of March next, they said. Tobacco has also been cultivated in the huge tract of the dried up river beds of the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Ghaghot and other rivers and tributaries in greater Rangpur this time, the local farmers and char people said. Enditem