TOBACCO

TOBACCO

Tobacco is an important cash crop which is cultivated in the sub-tropical and temperate regions. The height of its plant is two to five heats, Tobacco is an intoxicant and the nicotine found in it is harmful for health. Tobacco is used both in cigarettes and Hookah.

History

America is the real home of tobacco. While discovering the new world, when Columbus arrived in the West Indies, he saw the local people using tobacco. After some time, tobacco cultivation also began In Europe and Spain became the center of tobacco cultivation is Europe. In England, its cultivation began in 1585. The Dutch introduced it in Indonesia while during the reign of Akbar; the Portuguese introduced it to the Indians. In this way, in the seventeenth century, the tobacco cultivation lad reached every nook and corner of the world. Now it is cultivated and used in all the continents of the world except Antarctica. 

informationmaker.blogspot.com

Tobacco production and Area Tobacco Cultivation in Pakistan

Tobacco is cultivated in all the four province of the country but the Frontier Province ranks first in tis cultivation and production. 65 per cent of the country’s area under tobacco cultivation is in this province which produces 78 per cent total tobacco in the country. 31 per cent of the country’s area under tobacco is in Punjab which produces 19 per cent of the total tobacco in the country. The remaining tobacco is cultivated in the production of Sindh and Baluchistan.

Important Areas under Tobacco Cultivation in the Four Provinces

NWFP

Peshawar, Mardan, Mansehra, Swabi, Charsadda and Malakand.

Punjab

Faisalabad, Toba Teksingh, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Okara, Vehari, Multan and Jhang

Sindh and Baluchistan

In Sindh, tobacco is cultivated in Sukkar, Dadu, Khairpur and Shikarpur. In Baluchistan, it is cultivated in the districts of Kallat, Mastung and Pashin.

Tobacco Trade

NWFP and Punjab are the leading producers of tobacco in Pakistan, but as a whole, the country does not have any prominent place among the tobacco producing countries of the world. The reason is that the indigenous type of tobacco only meets the country’s domestic requirements. The surplus output is also sold in the local markets.

Production of Tobacco and Area under its Cultivation

According to the Statistics of 2005-06

Province	Production in thousand metric tons	Area in thousand hectares
NWFP	87870	26457
Punjab	21609	17700
Baluchistan	2973	2083
Sindh	140	120