INDIA Indian workers harvest a bountiful crop.
with very low seedling mortality. Most of the nurseries in the Northern Light Soil (NLS) region of Andhra Pradesh and almost all the nurseries in Karnataka are raised in poly trays which has helped in uniform crop stand as well as higher grade index.
Steps in the Elevation of Tobacco Culture in India A continuation of last month’s look at how traditional methods are improving the agronomy of Indian leaf production. By Sunitha Kolaventy, Executive Director, Indian Tobacco Board 65 Days Green Cover in Tobacco Cultivation A new concept has been initiated in India tobacco agriculture with the hope of furthering sustainable crop production, sequestration of carbon, and preventing soil degradation. The Tobacco Board of India is planning to begin a program of “365 days green cover” in tobacco farming. This concept will be implemented under a natural farming mode in low productive, drought-prone tobacco-growing villages. The immediate goal will be to improve the soil micro biome and soil organic carbon content. The basis of ‘365 days green cover’, a continuous sequence of crops like legumes, millets and pulses—all less input intensive than tobacco—will be grown over the course of the year. Cropping is sustained even under dry conditions by adopting ‘dry-sowing’ of green manure seed before onset of rains instead of conventional sowing after onset of rains.
This model sustains soil health and also facilitates regular income for the tobacco growers throughout the year, thus mitigating market risks and ensuring overall farmer profitability. Tobacco Board is making efforts to implement on a pilot basis year-round green cover in tobacco cultivation this year in Andhra Pradesh. Promotion of GreenTech Nurseries There is a movement to persuade growers to switch over to GreenTech Nurseries, which involves nursery raising of tobacco seedlings in a partially controlled environment using PVC trays with sterilized cocopeat medium, all in an environmentally friendly manner. This model of nursery raising has brought a drastic reduction in the cost of seedling production besides ensuring healthy, disease-free seedlings. This method also enables production of sturdy seedlings with good vigor which ultimately ensures a uniform crop stand
36 TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019
Good Agricultural Practices in Tobacco Cultivation The Tobacco Board of India with technical guidance of CTRI is consistently g efforts to promote Good Agricultural Practices in FCV tobacco as part of the Sustainable Tobacco Production program. Tobacco Board organizes regular awareness educational programs, training programs, workshops, study tours, and demonstrations for effective transfer of latest crop production technologies to the farmers. The extension staff of Tobacco Board regularly tours in the villages and provide necessary technical advice to the tobacco farmers. Residue-free Tobacco Production Dependence on chemical pesticides for pest control is endangering sustainability of farming owing to development of insecticide resistance to insect pests, annihilation of beneficial organisms, insect pest resurgence and environmental pollution. The increasing health concerns worldwide have also necessitated production of compliant tobaccos which are safer and free from pesticide residues. IPM practices like plantation of ‘trap’ crops and border crops, erection of pheromone traps and yellow sticky traps for pest surveillance and mass trapping, usage of botanicals and bio pesticides are some of the major initiatives undertaken so far to ensure compliant tobacco production. Minimization of CPA residues below the Guidance Residual Levels (GRL’s) is one of the serious issues fo-
