Companies lure farmers to grow tobacco

RANGAMATI, Dec 6 (BSS): Cultivators have brought more than 1,000 hectares of land under tobacco farming in different areas in the Chittagong hill districts ignoring widespread campaign by the government and NGO organizations against tobacco cultivation.
Tobacco cultivation in the hill districts began decades back, but in the recent years it boomed because tobacco companies succeeded in luring cultivators to tobacco farming.
Companies like British American Tobacco, Dhaka Tobacco, Abul Khayer, Akij, Nasir and Bengal are front runners in alluring cultivators. They have set up offices and employed workers to lure farmers. There is no other industry here which can generate employment.
The representatives of these companies regularly visit villages, train farmers on tobacco cultivation, give them seeds and interest-free loans. It worked well as tobacco has now emerged a major crop in the districts.
In the past, for generations, farmers produced paddy, wheat, vegetables and mustard. After fulfilling family needs, they used to sell out the surplus products. But rising production cost and low prices of the crops have held them in constant hardship.
Deputy Director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Naresh Chandra Baroi said national and multinational cigarette companies are still providing financial and logistic support to the farmers to continue tobacco production.
Ratan Chakma, a farmer at Bilchari village of Lama upazila said he is cultivating tobacco for last couple of years. This year he cultivated tobacco on five acres of land where he used to grow paddy. Like him, Kasi Mong, Sadan Marma, Polash Pru and many others grew tobacco on their paddy growing lands.
Additional Director of DAE Mudsudyee said DAE is trying its best to discourage farmers to cultivate tobacco and providing them training on cultivating other alternative crops.