SWABI, June 27: Tobacco companies as well as leaders of areas where the tobacco crop has been destroyed by hailstones have demanded financial help for the affected farmers.

This was stated in a survey conducted by major tobacco purchasing companies in the district and completed here on Saturday. The hailstorm devastated some tobacco growing areas of the district three days ago.

About 60 per cent of the Virginia tobacco crop was destroyed by hail stones in Sadary and surrounding areas where 85 per cent of the people were growing tobacco. It was clear that the tobacco crop was completely destroyed there because the remaining parts could neither be neither cured nor graded, said an official who visited the area during the survey.

"I have seen the fields where only the stems of the tobacco plant s remained while the leafs were destroyed by hailstones," he told this correspondent.

In Matra and its suburbs about 45 per cent of the tobacco crop had been damaged. The survey said that in Maneri and proper Swabi belt from 20 to 35 per cent of the crop had damaged.

In Gohati about 20 per cent of the tobacco had been damaged while some areas of Yar Hussain belt were lashed by hail stones.

The tobacco growers have maintained that a big quantity of the crop was still with them unsold and the companies should pick up this entire tobacco product from the growers.

The growers said the companies wanted to purchase only grade 4 tobacco from them and asked where they could sell the remaining grades of WP tobacco.

CORPORATE BUYERS: The damage done to the tobacco crop by the recent hailstorm has made the major tobacco buyers heave a sigh of relief as their fear of a surplus crop being produced has ended. They felt that what remains of the crop could balance their requirements for this year.