China: Henan Province Starts Leaf Tobacco Harvest

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 08/17/2009

North central China's Henan Province - a major Chinese tobacco-producing region - has started the harvest of leaf tobacco for the current agricultural year, amid speculation that the average price of State leaf tobacco purchase in 2009 will rise 10 percent over 2008, according to leaders of Henan Provincial Tobacco Monopoly Administration. In 2009, a total of 4,613 villages in 440 tobacco-producing townships in 58 of counties of 12 cities across Henan are growing 1.18 million mu (78,667 hectares) of tobacco. So far, these villages have signed 115,700 contracts with the State for the production and sale of 3.08 million dan (154,000 tons) of leaf tobacco. So far in 2009, the situation of leaf tobacco production in Henan has generally been better than that of 2008, with field growth of tobacco across the province in a favorable trend. Most of the leaf tobacco grown in Henan has entered the stage of maturity for harvest and flue-curing. Henna is expected to be able to fulfill the quotas issued by the State for leaf tobacco production and sales for 2009. Tobacco growing of scale in Henan has been obviously improved so far this year. The number of tobacco-growing farm households under contract for leaf tobacco production across Henan in 2009 stands at 115,700, down 59,500 from 2008, with the average tobacco acreage per household going up to 10.2 mu (0.68 hectare) in 2009 from the level of 6.78 mu (0.45 hectare) in 2008. Enditem