Tobacco Cooperatives Mushroom in Tobacco-Growing Regions in China

Source from:  TobaccoChina Online 10/14/2010

Exclusive cooperatives for tobacco production have mushroomed in all tobacco-growing regions in China so far this year in a seemingly irresistible trend, as the establishment of tobacco cooperatives is widely applauded by tobacco growers and wins support from local governments. In particular, tobacco cooperatives have been established in all parts of Baoshan City in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Changsha City in south central China's Hunan Province and Shiyan City in central China's Hubei Province - three leading tobacco-producing zones in China. Although it has not been quite a long period of time since their establishment, and although they are relatively young entities, these tobacco cooperatives have already accumulated rich experience in tobacco production and have made remarkable achievements. Establishment of cooperatives in China is nothing new. There are many precedents of establishing cooperatives in the history of development of agriculture in China. However, establishment of tobacco cooperatives is indeed a new question for the development of a tobacco agriculture, particularly the development of a modern tobacco agriculture, in China. As tobacco-growing regions in China are scattered in different parts of the country, they are greatly different from one another in terms of the geographical environment, economic conditions and other factors. Therefore, how to find a suitable way of establishing tobacco cooperatives in light of the local realities has become a question that needs to be imperatively solved for the many tobacco-growing regions in China. Enditem