Philippines: Tobacco Output Down by 8.52% in 2015

Source from:  Business Mirror 03/11/2016

The country's tobacco production in 2015 declined by 8.52 percent to 56,190 metric tons (MT) compared to the 2014 output of 61,240 MT, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In the last quarter of 2015 alone, PSA data showed that tobacco output jumped by 160.3 percent to 1,142 MT, from 439 MT recorded in the same period in 2014.

The PSA attributed the surge in tobacco output in the October-to-December period to the expansion of contract-growing areas, particularly for the Virginia tobacco variety in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, by Philip-Morris-Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC).

The company also provided farm implements and fertilizer subsidy to their contract growers.

Data revealed that the country's total Virginia tobacco output in the fourth quarter expanded by almost tenfold to 865 MT, from 80 MT in 2014. The Virginia variety contributed 75.7 percent of total output during the period.

PSA data also showed that production of native tobacco in the fourth quarter reached 277.27 MT, 22.7 percent lower than the 2014 level of 358.76 MT. This variety accounted for only 24.3 percent of the total tobacco production during the period.

According to the PSA, the decline in native-tobacco output was due to the inadequate water supply, which resulted in the contraction in area planted in Misamis Oriental.

The country's top tobacco-producing region in the fourth quarter was Northern Mindanao, which registered a total production of 1,125 MT.

Meanwhile, area planted with tobacco from July to December 2015 reached 1,338 hectares, 50.7 percent higher than last year's area of 888 hectares. Area planted with Virginia tobacco expanded to 650 hectares from 130 hectares.

In 2014 a survey conducted by the National Tobacco Administration showed most farmers in Claveria, Misamis Oriental, are willing to shift to tobacco farming to avail themselves of the production assistance from the PMFTC.

The company earlier said it is targeting to produce 4,000 MT of Virginia tobacco annually in Claveria. This is the maximum capacity of PMFTC's fresh-leaf buying and curing facility in the municipality.

A total of 2,500 hectares of land planted to tobacco is needed to reach the target of 4,000 MT, according to the company. Enditem