SWABI: Tobacco growers who failed to sign agreements with companies of their choice before cultivating the crop are now facing severe difficulties in selling their produce, officials from multinational and local firms, as well as concerned farmers, told Dawn on Thursday.

As the curing and procurement process gains pace across the district, farmers are working round the clock but struggling to secure buyers for their produce. Similar reports have emerged from other tobacco-growing regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Arif Ali Khan, central president of Ittehad Kashtkaran Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (IKKP), described the situation as extremely complicated. He said selling flue-cured Virginia (FCV) — the main variety used in cigarette production — has become a herculean task for farmers without contracts.

“The total demand for all tobacco varieties this year is 74.81 million kilogrammes. Of this, FCV accounts for about 70.5m kg, the bulk of which is purchased by two multinational companies — Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC) and Philip Morris International (PMI) Pakistan,” he said. “Most farmers aimed to secure agreements with these firms, but the majority failed.”

Without contracts, they face lower prices, delayed payments and alleged exploitation, in violation of tobacco marketing laws

Consequently, growers who did not secure contracts are now compelled to sell their produce to local firms or entrepreneurs.

These transactions typically yield lower prices and involve long payment delays — sometimes stretching to months or even years — pushing farmers into deep financial distress.

Leading growers from Swabi alleged that companies do not procure their entire tobacco requirement directly from farmers. They claimed that local firms and businessmen are blatantly violating tobacco marketing laws, leading to widespread exploitation. Downgrading of the crop, they said, significantly reduces the price and causes huge financial losses.

Muhammad Ayaz Khan, former board member of PTC, said the law mandates that the market average price must not fall below the previous year’s level. “But when a company’s leaf manager deliberately downgrades the crop during purchase, the price automatically drops, inflicting losses on cultivators,” he said.

“The exploitation of tobacco growers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is unmatched anywhere else in the tobacco world,” he added, noting that the federal government collected approximately Rs235bn in federal excise duty from the tobacco sector in 2024–25.

An official of a national company, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) for the farmers’ plight, stating that its historical record shows it has never fulfilled its regulatory responsibilities.

The growers also cited a recent announcement by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), which set the minimum indicative price (MIP) for FCV at Rs545 per kg for plains and Rs612.9 per kg for sub-mountainous regions.

When contacted, company officials maintained that they aim to create a business environment where both buyers and sellers can engage collaboratively and fairly.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2025