Pakistani growers say no thank you to below-cost-of-production prices

Tobacco growers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, say they have decided not to grow tobacco next year because the prices on offer do not cover the cost of production, according to a story by Muhammad Irfan for the Express Tribune.

A study led by the Islamabad Director of the National Agriculture Council, Dr. Sharif Zia, in February found that the cost of production for farmers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was Rs183.40 per kg.

The Pakistan Tobacco Board set the price of flue-cured at Rs117.00 per kg, a figure that has been raised to Rs141 for 2013.

The survey was carried out among 1,100 farmers in the districts of Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi and Mansehra, where 98 per cent of tobacco is cultivated.

Tobacco is the only cash crop grown in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and about 78,000 people there are said to be directly associated with tobacco.