China: STMA Invests Heavily in Building Large Tobacco Production Project

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 07/13/2009

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) is investing 11 million yuan (1.57 million U.S. dollars) in the project of building infrastructure facilities for tobacco production at Wanbao Village in Da'an Township in Longshan County of south central China's Hunan Province, which has been the most costly project of its kind with STMA investment in western Hunan. Located in the northeast of Longshan County and with an altitude of more than 1,200 meters above the sea level, Da'an Township is an area suitable for tobacco growth. Over recent years, the annual average tobacco acreage in the township has been 16,000 mu (1,066.7 hectares) or more, with a per capita average of over 2 mu (0.13 hectare) for the local population of 7,200 people. The average per capita income from tobacco growing alone in the area is over 3,000 yuan (428.6 U.S. dollars). Therefore, Da'an is known as a "land of golden leaf". In efforts to better assist local farmers in getting enriched and solve the difficulty of water supply for the local population, the STMA adopted a decision to invest heavily in the tobacco production project in November 2008. The project involves the laying of more than 6,000 meters of steel pipes and the construction of more than 100 reservoirs, large or small. The project is expected to be completed by the end of November 2009. When construction of the project is completed, the difficulty in water supply for both irrigation and daily life of the local population will be fundamentally solved. Enditem