December 4, 2001	Tuesday	Ramazan 18, 1422

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SWABI, Dec 3: The Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) adopted a unique method to warn the Virginia tobacco growers of district Swabi and get them cultivate tobacco according to the requirements of the purchasing companies.

The PTB got a loudspeaker installed on a Suzuki van (No RIU 1618) which went through all the tobacco cultivating localities across the district, warning the tobacco growers that those who had not executed agreements with Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC), and Lakson Tobacco Company (LTC), should avoid cultivating tobacco or they would face dire consequences. The companies would not be responsible for the production of surplus tobacco, it was also announced.

The PTC and LTC are two major tobacco buyers. For the year 2002, the total requirement of the companies comes to 45 million kg of which 44 million kg would be purchased only by them. These two companies have dominated the tobacco market since long.

The PTB urged that instead of producing surplus tobacco, the growers should either cultivate vegetables, wheat or other alternative crops as to avoid law and order problem and clashes between the companies staff and the growers which had become almost a routine over the past three years. Each year, the companies purchased more than their announced quota.

“Before cultivating tobacco or leaving/preparing land for tobacco cultivating, the growers must ensure that they had executed agreements with the purchasing companies. If they failed to do so then they must give up tobacco cultivation and look for other sources of livelihood. The buyers are no longer in a position to purchase surplus tobacco”, said a PTB official.

During the year 2001 purchasing season (June, July and August), when the LTC and PTC refused to buy surplus tobacco, the growers warned that they would stage a protest. They held that the companies were bound to buy tobacco.

When the situation took an ugly turn, the district Nazim Sher Zaman Sher had arranged a meeting which was attended by the leaders of tobacco growers, PTB representatives, union council Nazims, peasant councillors and area managers of the PTC and LTC.

During this meeting, the district Nazim, Sher Zaman Sher, appealed to the buyers to purchase surplus tobacco from the growers. He said for the year 2002 the tobacco growers should be educated by the UC Nazims on cultivation of tobacco according to the announced quota of the companies. The district government would not force them to purchase tobacco in the year 2002.

However, the tobacco growers said tobacco was the only cash crop with which the source of livelihood of thousands families had been linked.

In Swabi land, neither sugarcane nor other cash crops can be grown because of a number of pest attacks, the growers maintain.