Tweet
Farmers plan to expand production
BY VERNON DAVIDSON Executive Editor — Publications davidsonv@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A just-concluded survey of the local tobacco industry says that there has been a resurgence in cultivation of the crop in the past two years and places the industry's estimated farmgate value at $397 million.
At the same time, the survey also found that most of the industry's 573 farmers plan to expand production, even as pressure mounts on the Government to enact tobacco control legislation in keeping with Jamaica's obligation under the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) signed in 2003.
PANDOHIE... what this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community
PANDOHIE... what this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community
#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/2
The survey, which is likely to receive heavy flak from the anti-tobacco lobby, was conducted by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) over four weeks between January and February 2011.
The study, the researchers said, took the form of a field survey utilising farmer interviews, GPS mapping data analysis and cross-referencing.
A total of 80 extension personnel conducted the survey across the island and identified tobacco farmers in all parishes except Kingston & St Andrew, St James, and Hanover.
"Although tobacco farming has gone on in Jamaica for a long time, the large-scale commercial production of tobacco almost disappeared during the early-1990s. In the past two or three years, however, there has been resurgence in the cultivation of this crop," said the survey released this month.
"Led by strong demand in a mainly informal market for locally grown tobacco and, to a lesser extent, the demand for tobacco for a small cigar-making sub-sector, the cultivation of tobacco has been on an upward growth curve. This is evidenced by the number of new tobacco farmers identified by the survey. More than half of the farmers indicated that they have been growing tobacco for less than two years."
The researchers said that of the 573 tobacco farmers across the island the highest concentrations -- 153 and 137 -- were located in St Elizabeth and St Ann respectively. Portland had 103; Westmoreland, 65; Trelawny, 35; St Mary, 35; St Catherine, 17; Clarendon, 15; St Thomas, seven; and Manchester, six.
However, the researchers said they found that the largest acreage of tobacco -- 126.2 acres -- was in St Ann, which accounted for more than a third of the estimated total 310.5 acres of the crop islandwide. Portland followed with 54.1 acres, while St Elizabeth had 51.3 acres.
According to the study, tobacco is mainly a small-farmer-driven crop, as nearly 92 per cent of the farms are less than one acre in size. But the researchers -- using a national average yield of 1,600 lb per acre -- estimated that approximately 496,800 lbs of tobacco are produced annually.
Prices at the farmgate, the study said, ranged between $100 per lb and $8,000 per lb with a modal price of $800 per lb for dried bundled leaves.
"At this modal price, the estimated value of the industry at farmgate is $397 million," said the study. "This calculates to gross earnings per acre at the farmgate of $1.28 million. The approximate mean annual gross earning per farmer is just under $693,000."
According to the researchers, almost all farmers expressed a preference for growing tobacco over other crops "because of the ease of growing it and the high level of profitability accorded by a sustained year-round market offering good prices".
The researchers also said they found that a factor attracting farmers to the crop was the fact that tobacco, once reaped and dried, can be easily stored for sustained periods.
They also reported that 86.3 per cent of the farmers expressed plans to expand their tobacco production, with most of them saying that they intended to do so during this year.
"Among the reasons given for this intention to expand were the good prices and demand for the crop. They did, however, have some concerns in doing so, such as the high cost and unavailability of agricultural labour; lack of access to land and irrigation; and unavailability and cost of planting material," the researchers said.
But the farmers' intentions are likely to anger anti-tobacco lobbyists who have been pressing the Government to honour the provisions of the FCTC.
The WHO describes the FCTC as "the pre-eminent global tobacco control instrument, containing legally binding obligations for its parties, setting the foundation for reducing both demand for and supply of tobacco products and providing a comprehensive direction for tobacco control policy at all levels".
Armed with statistics showing that five million people die from tobacco use every year (one death every six seconds), the WHO and the anti-tobacco lobby have been very strident in their push for governments to enact legislation that would protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco.
That data took on even greater meaning when a global assessment, released last November, showed that second-hand tobacco smoke kills upward of 600,000 people every year, more than a third of them children.
The study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, said that among non-smokers worldwide, 40 per cent of children, 35 per cent of women and 33 per cent of men were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, the most recent year for which data was available across the 192 countries examined.
"When added to the 5.1 million fatalities attributable to active smoking, the final death toll from tobacco for 2004 was more than 5.7 million people," the study concluded.
But those statistics are apparently not a concern for local tobacco farmers who, according to the RADA study, gave positive feedback about the financial viability of the crop.
"When asked whether they considered tobacco to be a more payable option to other crops, an overwhelming 90 per cent responded positively," said the RADA researchers. "In explaining their responses, the reasons cited included:
* The legality of the crop;
* Good and reliable market demand;
* Good prices;
* The profitability of the crop;
* Tobacco growing is easier than for many other crops; and
* The ease with which, and the length of time the crop can be stored.
"Generally, the feeling among the farmers was that despite lower yields than, for example, pumpkin, it is much more profitable and thus presents a better opportunity to make more money than many other crops," said the RADA study.
Yesterday, when the Sunday Observer contacted Carreras Managing Director Richard Pandohie for a comment on the research findings, he said, "What this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community, and contrary to what the tobacco control community is saying and is accusing [Agriculture Minister] Dr [Chris] Tufton of, the Government and Carreras are not looking to go back into growing tobacco. We're looking at the existing tobacco business with the intention to make it a part of the formal economy and create a proper brand and export it."
Pandohie said that the value of the industry was $2 billion, when all parts of the supply chain -- from farm to retail -- are included. "So it's not small business," he argued.
Responding to the study's conclusion that the lack of technical information available to the farmers is affecting the quality of the tobacco being produced, Pandohie said his company was trying to bring in a leaf expert to visit the farms.
"Some tobacco leaves can be used for cigars, some can be used for cigarettes, and the different techniques being used here are not necessarily the best, so we're bringing in someone to assess it and thereafter we work through the Ministry of Agriculture to see how we can help them develop the brand and get it in the international market, because Dr Tufton's approach is about building brand value in agriculture, as opposed to just producing and selling," said Pandohie.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1HB8KYEBe
BY VERNON DAVIDSON Executive Editor — Publications davidsonv@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, March 20, 2011
A just-concluded survey of the local tobacco industry says that there has been a resurgence in cultivation of the crop in the past two years and places the industry's estimated farmgate value at $397 million.
At the same time, the survey also found that most of the industry's 573 farmers plan to expand production, even as pressure mounts on the Government to enact tobacco control legislation in keeping with Jamaica's obligation under the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) signed in 2003.
PANDOHIE... what this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community
PANDOHIE... what this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/2 The survey, which is likely to receive heavy flak from the anti-tobacco lobby, was conducted by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) over four weeks between January and February 2011.
The study, the researchers said, took the form of a field survey utilising farmer interviews, GPS mapping data analysis and cross-referencing.
A total of 80 extension personnel conducted the survey across the island and identified tobacco farmers in all parishes except Kingston & St Andrew, St James, and Hanover.
"Although tobacco farming has gone on in Jamaica for a long time, the large-scale commercial production of tobacco almost disappeared during the early-1990s. In the past two or three years, however, there has been resurgence in the cultivation of this crop," said the survey released this month.
"Led by strong demand in a mainly informal market for locally grown tobacco and, to a lesser extent, the demand for tobacco for a small cigar-making sub-sector, the cultivation of tobacco has been on an upward growth curve. This is evidenced by the number of new tobacco farmers identified by the survey. More than half of the farmers indicated that they have been growing tobacco for less than two years."
The researchers said that of the 573 tobacco farmers across the island the highest concentrations -- 153 and 137 -- were located in St Elizabeth and St Ann respectively. Portland had 103; Westmoreland, 65; Trelawny, 35; St Mary, 35; St Catherine, 17; Clarendon, 15; St Thomas, seven; and Manchester, six.
However, the researchers said they found that the largest acreage of tobacco -- 126.2 acres -- was in St Ann, which accounted for more than a third of the estimated total 310.5 acres of the crop islandwide. Portland followed with 54.1 acres, while St Elizabeth had 51.3 acres.
According to the study, tobacco is mainly a small-farmer-driven crop, as nearly 92 per cent of the farms are less than one acre in size. But the researchers -- using a national average yield of 1,600 lb per acre -- estimated that approximately 496,800 lbs of tobacco are produced annually.
Prices at the farmgate, the study said, ranged between $100 per lb and $8,000 per lb with a modal price of $800 per lb for dried bundled leaves.
"At this modal price, the estimated value of the industry at farmgate is $397 million," said the study. "This calculates to gross earnings per acre at the farmgate of $1.28 million. The approximate mean annual gross earning per farmer is just under $693,000."
According to the researchers, almost all farmers expressed a preference for growing tobacco over other crops "because of the ease of growing it and the high level of profitability accorded by a sustained year-round market offering good prices".
The researchers also said they found that a factor attracting farmers to the crop was the fact that tobacco, once reaped and dried, can be easily stored for sustained periods.
They also reported that 86.3 per cent of the farmers expressed plans to expand their tobacco production, with most of them saying that they intended to do so during this year.
"Among the reasons given for this intention to expand were the good prices and demand for the crop. They did, however, have some concerns in doing so, such as the high cost and unavailability of agricultural labour; lack of access to land and irrigation; and unavailability and cost of planting material," the researchers said.
But the farmers' intentions are likely to anger anti-tobacco lobbyists who have been pressing the Government to honour the provisions of the FCTC.
The WHO describes the FCTC as "the pre-eminent global tobacco control instrument, containing legally binding obligations for its parties, setting the foundation for reducing both demand for and supply of tobacco products and providing a comprehensive direction for tobacco control policy at all levels".
Armed with statistics showing that five million people die from tobacco use every year (one death every six seconds), the WHO and the anti-tobacco lobby have been very strident in their push for governments to enact legislation that would protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco.
That data took on even greater meaning when a global assessment, released last November, showed that second-hand tobacco smoke kills upward of 600,000 people every year, more than a third of them children.
The study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, said that among non-smokers worldwide, 40 per cent of children, 35 per cent of women and 33 per cent of men were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004, the most recent year for which data was available across the 192 countries examined.
"When added to the 5.1 million fatalities attributable to active smoking, the final death toll from tobacco for 2004 was more than 5.7 million people," the study concluded.
But those statistics are apparently not a concern for local tobacco farmers who, according to the RADA study, gave positive feedback about the financial viability of the crop.
"When asked whether they considered tobacco to be a more payable option to other crops, an overwhelming 90 per cent responded positively," said the RADA researchers. "In explaining their responses, the reasons cited included:
* The legality of the crop;
* Good and reliable market demand;
* Good prices;
* The profitability of the crop;
* Tobacco growing is easier than for many other crops; and
* The ease with which, and the length of time the crop can be stored.
"Generally, the feeling among the farmers was that despite lower yields than, for example, pumpkin, it is much more profitable and thus presents a better opportunity to make more money than many other crops," said the RADA study.
Yesterday, when the Sunday Observer contacted Carreras Managing Director Richard Pandohie for a comment on the research findings, he said, "What this study shows is that we have an existing, vibrant tobacco farming community, and contrary to what the tobacco control community is saying and is accusing [Agriculture Minister] Dr [Chris] Tufton of, the Government and Carreras are not looking to go back into growing tobacco. We're looking at the existing tobacco business with the intention to make it a part of the formal economy and create a proper brand and export it."
Pandohie said that the value of the industry was $2 billion, when all parts of the supply chain -- from farm to retail -- are included. "So it's not small business," he argued.
Responding to the study's conclusion that the lack of technical information available to the farmers is affecting the quality of the tobacco being produced, Pandohie said his company was trying to bring in a leaf expert to visit the farms.
"Some tobacco leaves can be used for cigars, some can be used for cigarettes, and the different techniques being used here are not necessarily the best, so we're bringing in someone to assess it and thereafter we work through the Ministry of Agriculture to see how we can help them develop the brand and get it in the international market, because Dr Tufton's approach is about building brand value in agriculture, as opposed to just producing and selling," said Pandohie.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1HB8KYEBe
Comment