Swabi tobacco growers burn crop, protest

Farmers reject Rs350 rate, demand official price

SWABI:

Tobacco farmers, joined by political and social organisations and members of the public, staged a major protest outside the Swabi Press Club against the purchase of tobacco at rates as low as Rs350 per kilogram, far below the Rs750 per kg rate fixed by the Pakistan Tobacco Board.

During the demonstration, local grower and former ANP district general secretary Haji Tameez Khan set fire to 500 kilograms of his tobacco bundles outside the Press Club.

"I have not burned tobacco today; I have burned the blood of my children, their needs and the necessities of my household," Haji Tameez Khan said. He added that growers had already suffered heavy losses and fallen into debt last year. This season, he said, they still owed hundreds of thousands of rupees to wood suppliers and labourers and had no idea how to repay them.

"The cost of production of my crop comes to nearly Rs750 per kg, yet someone offered only Rs350 per kg. That is why I decided to stop work and burn the crop," he said. "There is no justification for selling a crop that costs Rs750 per kg for Rs350 or even Rs400."

Haji Tameez Khan pointed out that tobacco is used to manufacture cigarettes and generates billions of rupees for the industry, yet growers remain anxious about receiving a fair price for their produce. He warned that if tobacco is not purchased at a reasonable rate, more farmers will follow the same path of protest.

He held the Pakistan Tobacco Board and multinational companies responsible for failing to resolve growers' problems, saying the Board must play its role in ensuring that companies pay farmers the official rate.

National Awami Party district chairman Masood Jabbar said tobacco is a cash crop of Swabi and that the progress of landowners is the progress of the country. He warned that if farmers' issues are not resolved, the scope of the protest will be expanded and the entire district will join future programmes.