Anand tobacco units take a knock

The ban on advertising of tobacco products and smoking in public places has led a major blow to the tobacco industry.

Anand, the leading tobacco producing district in the state, has seen a drop in the area under tobacco cultivation. Moreover, productivity has also seen a markedly drop.

"The state government is not very keen on promoting tobacco cultivation owing to the harmful effects of its consumption. There are no schemes to support tobacco as a crop and the state is promoting non-cash crops," Govind Patel, district agriculture officer, Anand, said.

Anand has about 2,14, 000 hectare agricultural land in the district. In current year, about 36,300 hectare land is under tobacco harvest as per the statistics available from the District Agriculture Office.

The productivity has declined by close to 20 per cent to about 2000 kg per hectare in 2003-2004 from over 2500 kg per hectare in 2001-2002.

Tobacco grown in Anand, better known as Charotar (Land of golden leaves), is mostly used for making bidis and chewing products "" unorganised markets with mostly small players.

"The ban on advertising of tobacco and allied products has made it difficult for small marketers to advertise local brands. Launching a new brand or variant is even more difficult," said Ashok Sindhi, a local commission agent of bidi and chewing tobacco.

To add to the woes of the tobacco farmers, rainfall has been unpredictable.

"The tobacco industry, which is a major source of employment in Anand, seems to be passing through tough times for the last three seasons. The market has also seen severe fluctuations in volumes due to the unpredictable weather conditions," said Amit Shah, a veteran tobacco trader.

Tobacco grown in Anand is mainly used for bidi units in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.