Up in smoke: Low returns on tobacco crops annoy farmers

Companies use exploitation tactics against growers

SWABI: The current fiscal year is not faring well for tobacco growers in Swabi as they have complained major companies pay them less for the crops and this has disturbed the pattern of their sales.

Noor Rehman, a resident of Kunday village in Swabi, told The Express Tribune that he has been growing tobacco for some time, but this year nearly all farmers were confronted with issues because companies were paying them less and demanding quality crops.

Not only are the companies giving less for more, Rehman said, they have also set different purchase categories under which they are paying Rs174 for a kilogramme of high quality tobacco, while Rs120 to Rs160 is being paid for a kilogramme of the low quality tobacco.

Tobacco is one of the best cash crops in several districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.



Swabi’s residents grow the crop on more than 13,000 hectares of land and they claim there is production of about 3,000 kilogrammes on each hectare. Such a large production contributes billions of rupees to the national exchequer in the form of taxes, say farmers.

Wasting away

“The companies are purchase only five to six bundles of tobacco from the farmers rejecting the rest as they say it is of poor quality,” said another farmer Imtiaz, a resident of Zaida village in Swabi. “Some of the tobacco companies’ managers have told us that the demand of the crop has decreased by two million kilogrammes. In 2014, 67 million kilogrammes were required and now the demand has fallen to 65 million.”

However, some farmers complained that the companies reject their crops only to purchase later for lower prices. A farmer said that companies tell them that their requirement has been completed and hence purchase crops as a surplus at lower prices.

“The tobacco companies could save farmers from a financial collapse and encourage growth of the industry,” Anjuman-e-Kashkaran provincial general secretary Ismail Jan told The Express Tribune. He admitted companies reject and return a large quantity of crops to the farmers, taking only the good quality ones.

Streamlining

“Tobacco farmers are confronted with financial problems in Swabi, Mardan and Charsadda districts,” said Kashtkar Coordination Council General Secretary Liaquat Yousafzai. “The cost of production of one kilogramme of tobacco is Rs255 and in return the farmers get a price as low as Rs170.”

Pakistan Tobacco Board Marketing Deputy Director Sardar Hussain said that they have done a departmental survey and found out that the cost of production is Rs147 therefore they have set Rs174 as the average per kilogramme price for good quality of tobacco.

He added the board does not want tobacco growers to suffer and hence advised them to sow the crop in accordance with the requirements. “The government announces its requirement of tobacco every year before the sowing season so farmers should consider the information.”

He instructed farmers to strike an agreement with the companies of their choice in advance so as to avoid risks.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2015.