SWABI, Nov 17: Tobacco firms slashed their purchase quota of Virginia tobacco by 32 per cent for the year 2004 and advised the growers to cultivate the crop according to the companies’ requirements.

For 2003, the purchasing quota for flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco was 37.182 million kilograms.

Representatives of the tobacco companies and Pakistan Tobacco Board told Dawn here Monday that the total FCV demand for 2004 was 34.836 million kilograms.

The Lakson Tobacco Company reduced its quota by one million kilograms as the company would purchase 18 million kg in 2004.

The Pakistan Tobacco Company and its sister company Father and Sons Tobacco Company would only purchase 15.2 million kg. The quota they had announced in the previous year was 16.8 million kg.

The companies declared that in the year 2003 they were forced by the government and the growers to purchase surplus tobacco. “The PTC and LTC are no longer in a position to purchase surplus tobacco,” said a PTB representative.