Tobacco Farmers Switching to Other Crops

Source from:  thestar.com.my By IBRAHIM ABU BAKAR Bernama  02/10/2006

KUALA TERENGGANU: Two years ago, about 40 participants of a tobacco farming programme in Kampung Alor Ketitir, Merchang, near Marang, sweated day and night tending to their tobacco crop for fear that some disease might strike and damage their plants. This was worth it as the returns were very lucrative then. At that time, tobacco farmers could earn about a million ringgit a season from their crop because there was no quota imposed by tobacco companies. However, of late, participants in the tobacco farming programme, as well as some other tobacco farmers in Terengganu, have been switching to crops like padi, watermelon, sweet potatoes and vegetables. National Tobacco Board (NTB) director (Terengganu branch) Azis Tik attributed the switch to a 25% drop in the state's tobacco quota, which he said was due to low demand and other problems. He said the tobacco quota for Terengganu this year was 1,625,500kg, down from the 2,023,200kg last year. This, he said, had resulted in 224 of the 1,439 tobacco farmers in Terengganu, including Alor Ketitir, turning to farming of other crops. However, Azis said the farmers continued to receive assistance in the form of interest free loans, waterpumps and pesticide spray from NTB. A participant from Alor Ketitir, Mohamad Md Nor, 28, said he and about 30 others began switching to other crops when the quota for tobacco leaves was limited to only 1,500kg per participant. He said the switch was made on the advice of NTB and and the Agriculture Department. Since then, Mohamed has utilised a portion of his tobacco farm for planting chilli, brinjals, watermelons and maize. He said the harvest was encouraging, adding that he sold the vegetables to traders. However, Mohamad cannot completely abandon tobacco because of the unreliable price of vegetables compared to the fixed price of tobacco. Mohamed earns about RM10,000 a year from his tobacco crop. Enditem