Tobacco pricing: Farmers association rejects PTB’s formula

Says policy is harmful to interests of tobacco growers.

SWABI: Farmers Association Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Secretary General Haji Ismail Jan Khan rejected the ‘cost of production’ formula announced by Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB).

According to a press statement issued on Sunday, Khan said the policy is harmful to the interests of tobacco growers.

Earlier, on November 28, PTB introduced the formula whereby a series of suggestions on tobacco prices were unveiled. According to PTB estimates, a kilogramme of tobacco produced in Swabi should be priced at Rs162.59. The board has suggested the price of tobacco should be Rs144.09 and Rs137.18 per kilogramme in Mardan and Charsadda, respectively.

Moreover, PTB suggested average sale rate of dry tobacco should be Rs147.96 per kilogramme.

“Under this formula, the board has only suggested tobacco prices which are likely to have a negative impact on tobacco growers from Swabi,” said Khan.

“Tobacco growers from Swabi would sustain losses of between Rs20 to Rs25 per kilogramme,” said the secretary general.

Khan urged the PTB chairman to revise the formula to safeguard the interests of tobacco growers.

In August, the Kisan Board of K-P rejected the existing price of Rs150 per kilogramme for tobacco. Moreover, they threatened to stop growing the crop unless they were given Rs200.

K-P produces the bulk of the country’s tobacco crop. The province produced 83 million kilogrammes in 2012-13 of which 80% was produced in Swabi district.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2014.