SWABI, April 13: The Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) would provide Rs625 million loan to the agreement-holders of Virginia Tobacco growers of the NWFP this month.

This was claimed by the General Secretary of Anjuman-i- Kashtkaran NWFP, Ismail Jan Khan while talking to Dawn here on Friday.

There are 25,000 agreement-holders across the province and each one can get Rs25,000 from the ADBP with the help of two guarantors, he said.

In each district, the ADBP is authorized to provide loan to growers but only the agreement-holders of the two major companies are eligible.

He said the loan would not only help in increasing tobacco production but also in improving its quality, with farmers enabled to acquire fertilizer and pesticides on time.

When compared with last year, the companies’ demand has increased by 11 million kg this year. In 2001, the buyers’ requirement stood at 34 million kg, which has jumped to 45 million kg this year, he said.

He told this correspondent on being quizzed that the quota announced by the Pakistan Tobacco Board last year was not original. Actually the required quota was much more than that, which was why all the tobacco was purchased by the buyers.

He predicted that the growers would produce about 59 million kg tobacco this year which would translate into a 14 million kg surplus. He urged growers to produce tobacco in keeping with the companies’ demand and specification.