Covering costs: Farmers deem tobacco prices unacceptable

K-P union president says prices estimated at 14% lower than last year.

SWABI: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Farmers Union on Thursday declared Rs159 per kilogramme is too low a price for Virginia tobacco. The price was decided by the Pakistan Tobacco Board after estimating the crop’s cost of production.

The farmers’ meeting was held in Swabi and was chaired by Abdul Haleem, the provincial president of the union. Other officials and a huge number of farmers also participated in the meeting.



Addressing the participants, Haleem said the facts and figures calculated by the Tobacco Board regarding the cost of production of the crop were wrong. According to him, the board had estimated a cost 14% lower than last year.

He explained the actual fare of a tobacco kiln for a single season was around Rs25,000 to Rs30,000, however, the board had estimated it at just Rs5,713. Haleem also said the board calculated Rs1,000 electricity charges per month for the processing of tobacco leaves, which was far less than the actual cost.

He pointed out the board is estimating per hectare production of Virginia tobacco to be approximately 3,200kg, while the actual production is 2,700kg.

All the farmers present appealed to the K-P Minister for Agriculture Shahram Khan Tarakai, Crop Commissioner Islamabad, Secretary Agriculture and Chairman Tobacco Board to review the prices in light of the actual cost of production.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2013.