SWABI, Sept 27: Tobacco growers in a convention held here on Thursday warned that they would not cultivate tobacco crop from next year in protest against both tobacco purchasing companies and Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) who failed to pay them keeping in view the cost of production and supported buyers to take the harvest on throwaway prices from farmers.

The convention was held by Kashthkar Coordination Council (KCC) and growers belonging to different bodies of farmers. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Agriculture Mohammad Ayub Jan was chief guest on the occasion.

The speakers said that the companies and commerce ministry, who were responsible for determining tobacco price each year, created a peculiar situation for exploitation of growers.

They said that neither the government nor the national and multinational companies had any mercy for them and in the prevailing hostile scenario the growers had no option but to give up cultivating tobacco crop. However, some of the growers said that if the companies and PTB succeeded to satisfy them they could review their decision. They claimed that the district produced about 50 per cent of overall tobacco crop in the country.

The minister said that the growers had already filed a writ petition in Peshawar High Court about the tobacco price and the government would stand with them and encourage them to grow more crops.

Mohammad Ali Dagiwal said that during last eight years it was second occasion this year that growers burnt their tobacco crop to record their protest against the low price offered to them for their harvest. He said that tobacco was one of the major cash crops grown in Swabi, Mansehra, Mardan, Buner and Charsadda and over 1.5 million people depended on it for their livelihood.

It contributes about Rs60 billion annually in central excise duty and sales tax to the federal government and Rs500 million to the PTB and KP government as tobacco cess. However, share of the farmers in the crop is less than 5 per cent.

“The main beneficiaries are the government, companies and business mafia,” Mr Dagiwal said.

Earlier in May this year following the growers’ protest the Ministry of National Food Security and Research had sent a two-member team to the tobacco terrains for a survey. The study had reportedly revealed that the cost of production of tobacco was Rs159.5 per kilogramme; the support price based on cost of production was proposed at Rs183.4 per kg after adding inflation of 12 per cent and profit margin of 3 per cent.

However, the new price had not been implemented till now.