Tobacco industry brings great promise this year
Posted on April 3rd, 2009
This year, the tobacco industry carries a lot of promise as it continues to flourish in spite of the country’s troublesome economy. Reports said that tobacco farmers have a bountiful harvest of quality tobacco leaves, which together with the good price this year, brings a lot of hope to those who are dependent in this industry.
From the price of P61 last year, a good quality of tobacco leaf now commands a price as high P80 per kilo, according to the Philippine Association of Tobacco-based Cooperatives (PATCO).
Perhaps, one reason for the increase in harvest and sales of tobacco leaves this year is that there were more farmers who planted the leaf in more areas of Northern Luzon, as noted by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA).
In Vigan City alone, there were more than 2,252 hectares of land planted with tobacco, as compared to only about 1,681 last year. These areas covered more than 3,530 people engaged in tobacco farming, while there were only 2,778 last year.
There were other areas were plantation also increased but NTA is still collecting data from the field, hence it cannot give the exact volume of tobacco being traded as farmers are still bringing in their harvest. But NTA is optimistic of the prospect of this industry since more farmers shifted back to tobacco farming from planting corn, onions, and garlic.
And to help the farmers improve the quality and quantity of their harvests, cigarette manufacturers, like Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. (PMPMI), have extended their assistance. Chris Nelson, managing director of PMPMI, acknowledges the decision of farmers to return to tobacco farming, while he cautioned that there is still much work to be done.
He said PMPMI plans to help expand the tobacco farm lands to be able to help tobacco farmers meet their demands, as well as the other cigarette manufacturer. This expansion is a two-prong solution, because as it increases the livelihood of the farmers, it also benefits PMPMI who has to import tobacco just to be able to meet its requirement for production.
