• March 28, 2024

Ministry of Agriculture does not support tobacco

The Indian Ministry of Agriculture has said that it does not support tobacco production, according to a story in the most recent issue of the BBM Bommidala Group newsletter.

Rather, it supports tobacco control.

And in a written reply to the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation, which is examining proposed changes to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, it has said that it has no objection to the imposition on tobacco products of graphic health warnings covering 85 percent of the display area.

The comments were part of a consultation undertaken by the committee on proposed government amendments to the tobacco act.

Meanwhile, in opposing the government’s bid to impose 85 percent warnings, the Karnataka Virginia Tobacco Growers Association has criticized the agricultural ministry’s endorsement of the proposal.

The association said that the ministry had not considered fully the welfare of tobacco growers before agreeing to bigger graphic warnings on cigarette packs.

The ministry had suggested that tobacco growers switch to sugarcane, soya beans, maize and groundnuts.

But tobacco growers were not able to switch to other crops, it said.

Sugarcane plantations needed a lot of water, and the other crops suggested earned less than did tobacco.

The ministry’s suggestions were totally unscientific, the association said, before adding that the Agricultural University of Bengaluru had confirmed that no other crop was suitable for production in the Mysuru region where tobacco was grown.

The association said that farmers in general were currently struggling due to a drought, but that tobacco growers were better off because they required less water for their crop.