a) whether some States cultivate more tobacco in the country at the cost of growing foodgrains and vegetables and if so, the details thereof, acreage-wise, State/UT-wise; and
b) the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard?
a) whether some States cultivate more tobacco in the country at the cost of growing foodgrains and vegetables and if so, the details thereof, acreage-wise, State/UT-wise; and
b) the corrective steps taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)
(a) Ministry of Commerce & Industry administer the Tobacco Board, which is a Commodity Board created by an Act of Parliament in 1975. As per the mandate given by the Tobacco Board Act, 1975, the Tobacco Board regulates production and curing and exports of Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco, which is one of the several varieties of tobacco in India. The regulation of tobacco other than FCV tobacco does not come under the purview of Department of Commerce. Primarily, FCV tobacco is growing in the State of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka. State wise area under FCV tobacco cultivation for 2014-15 is as follows:
Name of the state Area (hectares)*
Andhra Pradesh 1,08,737
Karnataka 85,934
(Source: Tobacco Board)
Tobacco is generally grown in poor, marginal soils that are largely unsuitable for cultivation of other crops. It is a hardy and disease resistant crop that grows in semi-arid and rain-fed conditions. Even in extremely adverse weather conditions, the crop suffers low fluctuations in yield. As such tobacco is not a competitive crop for food/vegetable crops.
(b) Does not arise.
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