Tunisia: Workshop Highlights Tobacco Cultivation Prospects

Source from:  Tunisia Online 06/04/2010

Tunis - A workshop was held on Tuesday, in Tunis at the initiative of the Tunisian Agriculture and Fisheries Union (UTAP) chaired by Mr. Mabrouk El Bahri, the Union's chairman, on the theme "Reality and prospects of tobacco cultivation in Tunisia". According to statistics released on this occasion, tobacco cultivation covers 1, 266 hectares, employs 80,000 people (farmers, at tobacconists) and produces 16, 55 tons according to 2009 figures. Mr. El Bahri stressed the importance of tobacco farming in the reduction of imports and the supervision of farmers of this product in the countryside as well as the setting up of a partnership between the Tobacco Board and UTAP. The workshop was an opportunity to discuss impediments that prevent the development of tobacco cultivation, including the quality of water required for cultivation, inadequate supervision, fewer skilled workers and the decreasing acreage devoted to tobacco crops. Proposals were made on this occasion, including the technical support of tobacco farmers to ensure high product quality and production contracts between farmers and the tobacco Board, in order to safeguard the interests of each party, calling UTAP to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Tobacco Board. Tunisia's National Tobacco and Matches Company works to improve the quality of tobacco such as eastern tobacco and the introduction of new varieties to increase the volume of production to 3, 000 tons over the next few years and to create jobs and improve the income of tobacco farmers. Enditem