Chewing tobacco may be harmful for health, but the cash crop has caught the fancy of farmers in Gujarat.
According to the recent Gujarat government data, tobacco sowing in the State has touched one of the highest in recent history exceeding 1,52,000 hectares of area.
Government sources revealed that increase in area the result of attractive returns that tobacco has fetched for the growers.
“Inspite of a ban in force for the tobacco products such as gutka, the sowing has increased dramatically this year. The average for last three years is around 103,400 hectares. Last year there was crop damage due to unseasonal rains, which caused prices to surge. This seems to have lured more farmers into tobacco cultivation,” said a senior official from State Agriculture Department.
Tobacco sowing had dipped to 45,700 hectares in 2007-08, which jumped by over three times since then.
According to traders, raw tobacco prices in the State had touched ₹2,700 per 20 kg, up almost 100 per cent from what was in the previous year.
“Raw tobacco prices had shot up last year. Gujarat produces mainly kalkatti tobacco, which is used for bidis and gutka . Inspite of the ban, bidis continue to be sold in the State as is loose tobacco. But with increased sowing, we feel prices will fall by at least 50 per cent,” said Bakul Patel, a tobacco processor based at Vadod village in Anand district.
DerivativesPatel further mentioned that finished tobacco prices have been ruling lower at around ₹100/kg, which is about 30 per cent lower than previous year.
However, other derivatives such as dust and stem provide good earning opportunity for processors.
“Currently, there is no offtake. So, finished products prices have come down. We get about 12 kg of finished products from 20 kg of raw tobacco. The rest is waste, which includes derivatives,” said Patel.
In Gujarat, districts of Kheda, Anand and Vadodara mainly have cultivation of bidi tobacco, while regions like Panchmahal, Dohad, Mehsana, Banaskantha, Gandhinagar and Sabarkantha have cultivation of rustica tobacco, used primarily for chewing.