High prices have been attracting more growers to tobacco production in Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat District despite reservations about the crop within the Department of Agriculture, reports The Financial Express.
While tobacco is a notoriously laborious crop, farmers say its relatively low cost of production combined with the prevailing strong global demand make it financially more attractive than many other crops.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers have cultivated tobacco on nearly 10,000 hectares of land in five administrative regions of the Lalmonirhat District, but farmers’ sources claim the figure to be higher.
“We are always motivating farmers not to cultivate tobacco,” said DAE Deputy Director Shaikhul Arefin. “But farmers are doing it only for good price. In recent years, maize farming has taken the place of tobacco farming in many areas. If fair prices can be ensured for other traditional crops, tobacco farming will reduce gradually.”