INDIA
Photos: Copyright BAT
Left: Growers cultivate intercultural tobacco with country oxen. Below: Smt. K. Sunitha, Executive Director and CEO, Tobacco Board of India, leads a tour of natural farming trials.
initiative to popularize STP practices in FCV tobacco cultivation in India for overall development of the Tobacco Industry. A holistic approach is being adopted by the Tobacco Board of India to achieve the ultimate aim of sustainability.
A Look Back to Traditional Methods to Produce a Tobacco for the Future A niche ‘Organic’ brand for Indian tobaccos could take a new place in the country’s offerings. By Sunitha Kolaventy, Executive Director of Indian Tobacco Board nvironmental consequences of commercial Agriculture have been taking a toll on natural resources, in India, calling into question the sustainability of farming. Among the specific practices:
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Excessive use of chemical fertilizers reduced soil fertility to almost zero in intensively farmed regions, degrading the soil carbon levels and soil microbes’ population;. Excessive siphoning of ground water for irrigation uses are rendering aquifers dry; Chemical pesticides are becoming extremely pervasive in the environment, contaminating the entire food chain; Soil erosion and water depletion are leading to more desertification.
The world tobacco industry has embraced the concept of ‘Sustainable Tobacco Production’ (STP) in a big way recently. And sustainability is an important factor that now runs through the entire supply chain and significantly contributes to business success. (STP) ensures efficient production of quality tobacco under conditions that limit the negative impact on the environment, and in a manner that improves the socio-economic conditions of the people and their communities in the tobacco production areas. Tobacco Board has taken up the
Add to all this climatic change, and the ultimate tipping point is increasing the production risks year after year.
24 TOBACCO INTERNATIONAL SEPTEMBER 2019
Green Drive Within the framework of ‘Sustainable Tobacco Production’, The Indian Tobacco Board has been working to create a green and sustainable future in tobacco-growing areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is called ‘Tobacco Green Drive,” and it is a group of initiatives that started in 2018-19. The first is improving soil health through Green manuring. The soils in India’s FCV tobacco-growing regions are poor in organic carbon and available nitrogen due to continuous tobacco cultivation and the tropical climatic conditions. Grower awareness programs are being conducted on the necessity of soil health improvement and organizing supply of green manure seed to farmers in coordination with State Departments of Agriculture in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The persistent efforts of the Board have resulted in an increase in the area under green manure crops over the past few years. In 2019-20 crop season, following a special drive and encouragement
