Rice Farmers in Bangladesh Switching to Tobacco

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 01/28/2011

Large groups of farmers in Bangladesh are switching from rice cultivation to tobacco farming, according to a story by the Integrated Regional Information Network. For years, farmers have lamented the low prices they get for their crops; the result, they say, of being cut off from markets by poor infrastructure and, consequently, left to the mercy of middlemen. Tobacco companies are said to be recruiting farmers with incentives such as free seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and whatever else is needed for cultivation. And some farmers like working with these companies because they buy the tobacco grown, collect it from the farms and guarantee a steady demand and price. But anti-tobacco activists say tobacco companies win over farmers with promises of profits which often do not materialize. "Many farmers later understand that it is not [a] profitable business but they cannot leave it as they cannot repay the loans they have taken from the companies," Syed Mahbubul Alam, secretary of the local NGO, Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance, was quoted as saying. Enditem