Key Tobacco-Producing County Gains Bumper Harvest of Tobacco

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 11/04/2011

Luoping County of Qujing City - a key tobacco-producing area in southwest China's Yunnan Province - has gained a bumper harvest of leaf tobacco for the current year despite serious natural disasters that frequently hit southwest China in the year, as a result of adoption of favorable policies and measures. By October 4, Luoping County had harvested and sold to the State 641,500 dan (32,075 tons) of leaf tobacco, an increase of 81,500 dan (4,075 tons) over 2010, with the sales volume, average price and rate of high-grade leaf tobacco all reaching record highs, thanks to the government policy of raising the State leaf tobacco purchase price and adoption of measures to improve the structure of leaf tobacco products. With the bumper harvest, Luoping County has fully met its targets of "improving the structure of leaf tobacco products, promoting leaf tobacco production to a higher level, assuring the quality of leaf tobacco products and guaranteeing increases in come for tobacco growers". In reality, the year 2011 has been the harshest year for leaf tobacco production and purchase in Luoping County. In the year, natural disasters frequently hit the county. In March, the county was hit by a lingering cold wave, which was very disadvantageous to the growing of tobacco seedlings, and which brought about tremendous difficulties in the development and selection of strong tobacco seedlings suitable for transplantation onto fields. Because of the lingering cold wave, the early spring crops were late in maturity and had a longer flowering phase, resulting in postponement of the harvest season, which made it very difficult to transplant tobacco seedlings onto fields at the best time. From June to August, Luoping County was hit by a severe drought, which caused late growing, early blossoming and lower leaf senescence of tobacco crops, and which brought about serious negative impacts on leaf tobacco production in the area. Besides, a series of hailstorms hit Luoping County in the year, seriously damaging the tobacco crops grown by 2,982 households of farmers in 25 villages of seven townships in the county, with the acreage of tobacco crops affected totaling 15,100 mu (1,006.7 hectares). The series of natural disasters brought about very heavy pressure on the fulfillment of State leaf tobacco purchase quotas by Luoping County and the work of disposing of unusable tip leaf tobacco in the county. As a result of the natural disasters, the prices of supplies for tobacco production and labor rose sharply in Luoping County, which in turn contributed to driving up the cost of leaf tobacco production in the area, and which to some extent dampened the enthusiasm of local tobacco growers to grow tobacco. Besides, because of year-on-year increase of the acreage of tobacco and State leaf tobacco purchase quotas from Luoping County, the quantity of unusable leaf tobacco that had to be disposed of in fields increased to 59,300 dan (2,965 tons) in 2011. In face of the series of natural disasters, the people of Luoping County, from the top to the bottom levels, were of one mind, and adhered to the policy of "striving to gain a bumper harvest in a year of serious natural disasters and making up for losses by strengthening management". They managed to further strengthen organization and leadership of leaf tobacco production, strengthen implementation of corresponding measures, and strengthen technological training and policy publicity, with fulfillment of contracts as the guideline, with guarantee of the acreage of tobacco as the basis, with quality assurance as the core, with improvement of the structure of leaf tobacco of all grades as the leading policy, and with increase of income for tobacco growers as a fundamental target. In doing so, they took steps to strictly implement the contract responsibility system and the responsibility establishment system, started emergency plans in a timely manner, scientifically responded to the frequent occurrence of natural disasters in the area, striving to "fight the cold wave to save strong seedlings, step up transplantation of seedlings onto fields in a seasonal way, improve the quality and increase the quantity of leaf tobacco by strengthening field management, and promote quality improvement through State leaf tobacco purchase", realizing the bumper harvest despite the series of natural disasters hitting the county in the year. Enditem