PM Funds New Tobacco Grower Research Center

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Dec 12, 2007 12/13/2007

Philip Morris USA, in co-operation with Philip Morris International Management SA (PMIM), has funded the establishment of the Center for Tobacco Grower Research at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The center, which is charged with supporting the long-term sustainability and vitality of US tobacco production, will co-ordinate with other land grant universities in tobacco-producing states to provide timely research in the areas of US tobacco production, economics and markets. The new center is being co-ordinated by Daniel Green, who has worked with the Burley Tobacco Growers' Co-operative Association and as an Extension associate working on tobacco policy issues. He is working with the university's tobacco policy analyst, Dr. Kelly Tiller. Green said that the value of the US tobacco crop was expected to exceed $1 billion this year. Tobacco remained the most important cash crop for hundreds of rural communities, and the work of the center would benefit these rural communities, tobacco growers and others interested in the tobacco industry, he added. "Because American tobacco is the backbone of our blends, a stable supply of US tobacco is very important to Philip Morris USA," said Jeanette Hubbard, vice president of leaf at Philip Morris USA, which, with PMIM, provided $445,000 in funding the establishment of the center. Enditem