Pakistan: Growers Burn Tobacco Crop in Protest

Source from:  The News International  07/26/2012

Perturbed by the low prices, some tobacco growers set on fire their Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) crop in front of a multinational company’s office here on Wednesday.Farmers leaders said the buying season had already been delayed for nearly three weeks and they were eagerly waiting for its commencement but it resulted in more frustration because the tobacco companies and leaf managers weren’t giving them the expected prices for their crop. The late purchase angered the farmers as they said the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) had issued a notification to the companies to begin buying on July 21 but the process was started on July 24. The growers alleged that the officers pretended they had not yet received order from their companies to start purchasing the crop.The farmers said that soon after the commencement of tobacco purchase, Khan Muhammad and another farmer brought their tobacco crop to the company’s office and set it on fire. Enditem